St Petersburg - Qualifying times

Will Power bounced back from the disappointing end to the 2012 season by claiming pole position for Sunday's season opener, the IZOD IndyCar Series Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg. His lap of 1:01.2070s in the final round was a new track record for the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit, and it earned Power his 30th career pole in the championship and his fourth consecutive pole at St Petersburg.

Qualifying took the usual format for road and street course races in the IZOD IndyCar Series, with the field split into two groups for Round 1 from which the top six from each advanced to Round 2. The fastest half dozen cars in Round 2 went on to compete for pole position in the Firestone Fast Six.

Chevrolet runners totally dominated the first Round 1 group, while Scott Dixon was a surprise elimination in the second. Although his final flying lap was admittedly compromised by debris on the track from James Jakes scraping the wall in the Rahal letterman Lanigan Racing car, Dixon never really seemed to have the pace expected of a Ganassi.

Penske's Will Power topped Round 2 ahead of AJ Foyt's Takuma Sato and KV Racing's Simona de Silvestro, with Schmidt-Peterson Motorsport's rookie Tristan Vautier also making it through while Andretti Autosport's reigning IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay joined Ganassi's Dario Franchitti on the sidelines.

Power comfortably stayed ahead of Sato and de Silvestro in the Fast Six pole shootout, setting the fastest time of the afternoon despite reports of light rain starting to fall in turn 1.

Round 1 - Group 1

1. #3 Helio Castroneves Penske (C) 105.344mph 1:01.5127s (6 laps)
2. #6 Sebastian Saavedra Dragon (C) 104.934mph 1:01.7530s + 0.2403s (4 laps)
3. #27 James Hinchcliffe Andretti (C) 104.89mph 1:01.7790s + 0.2663s (5 laps)
4. #1 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti (C) 104.697mph 1:01.8927s + 0.38s (4 laps)
5. #22 Oriol Servi? Panther/DRR (C) 104.601mph 1:01.9494s + 0.4367s (3 laps)
6. #25 Marco Andretti Andretti (C) 104.254mph 1:02.1560s + 0.6433s (4 laps)
7. #19 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne (H) 104.217mph 1:02.1777s + 0.665s (6 laps)
8. #15 Graham Rahal RLL (H) 104.061mph 1:02.2709s + 0.7582s (6 laps)
9. #98 Alex Tagliani BHA (H) 103.958mph 1:02.3328s + 0.8201s (3 laps)
10. #77 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt (H) 103.724mph 1:02.4736s + 0.9609s (4 laps)
11. #7 Sebastien Bourdais Dragon (C) 103.426mph 1:02.6537s + 1.141s (5 laps)
12. #20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter (C) 103.41mph 1:02.6634s + 1.1507s (7 laps)

Total laps: 57

Round 1 - Group 2

1. #12 Will Power Penske (C) 105.53mph 1:01.4041s (3 laps)
2. #14 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt (H) 105.454mph 1:01.4485s + 0.0444s (4 laps)
3. #11 Tony Kanaan KV Racing (C) 104.895mph 1:01.7760s + 0.3719s (3 laps)
4. #78 Simona de Silvestro KV Racing (C) 104.736mph 1:01.8699s + 0.4658s (4 laps)
5. #10 Dario Franchitti Ganassi (H) 104.656mph 1:01.9172s + 0.5131s (5 laps)
6. #55 Tristan Vautier Schmidt (H) 104.493mph 1:02.0138s + 0.6097s (5 laps)
7. #83 Charlie Kimball Ganassi (H) 104.315mph 1:02.1198s + 0.7157s (5 laps)
8. #67 Josef Newgarden SFHR (H) 104.248mph 1:02.1592s + 0.7551s (6 laps)
9. #16 James Jakes RLL (H) 104.237mph 1:02.1658s + 0.7617s (5 laps)
10. #9 Scott Dixon Ganassi (H) 104.228mph 1:02.1715s + 0.7674s (7 laps)
11. #5 EJ Viso Andretti-HVM (C) 104.182mph 1:02.1986s + 0.7945s (4 laps)
12. #4 JR Hildebrand Panther (C) 103.983mph 1:02.3179s + 0.9138s (4 laps)
13. #18 Ana Beatriz Dale Coyne (H) 102.442mph 1:03.2551s + 1.851s (8 laps)

Total laps: 63

Round 2 - Top 12

1. #12 Will Power Penske (C) 105.704mph 1:01.3034s (3 laps)
2. #14 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt (H) 105.539mph 1:01.3989s + 0.0955s (3 laps)
3. #78 Simona de Silvestro KV Racing (C) 105.535mph 1:01.4017s + 0.0983s (3 laps)
4. #3 Helio Castroneves Penske (C) 105.53mph 1:01.4044s + 0.101s (6 laps)
5. #27 James Hinchcliffe Andretti (C) 105.136mph 1:01.6343s + 0.3309s (3 laps)
6. #55 Tristan Vautier Schmidt (H) 105.087mph 1:01.6631s + 0.3597s (3 laps)
7. #25 Marco Andretti Andretti (C) 105.044mph 1:01.6883s + 0.3849s (3 laps)
8. #1 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti (C) 104.967mph 1:01.7339s + 0.4305s (5 laps)
9. #6 Sebastian Saavedra Dragon (C) 104.864mph 1:01.7944s + 0.491s (5 laps)
10. #10 Dario Franchitti Ganassi (H) 104.829mph 1:01.8150s + 0.5116s (5 laps)
11. #11 Tony Kanaan KV Racing (C) 104.661mph 1:01.9139s + 0.6105s (3 laps)
12. #4 JR Hildebrand Panther (C) 104.267mph 1:02.1483s + 0.8449s (6 laps)

Total laps: 48

Round 3 - Firestone Fast Six

1. #12 Will Power Penske (C) 105.87mph 1:01.2070s (3 laps)
2. #14 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt (H) 105.233mph 1:01.5776s + 0.3706s (3 laps)
3. #78 Simona de Silvestro KV Racing (C) 104.91mph 1:01.7670s + 0.56s (3 laps)
4. #27 James Hinchcliffe Andretti (C) 104.816mph 1:01.8229s + 0.6159s (3 laps)
5. #3 Helio Castroneves Penske (C) 104.686mph 1:01.8991s + 0.6921s (5 laps)
6. #55 Tristan Vautier Schmidt (H) 104.408mph 1:02.0645s + 0.8575s (3 laps)

Total laps: 20

Starting grid - unofficial

1. #12 Will Power Penske (C)
2. #14 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt (H)
3. #78 Simona de Silvestro KV Racing (C)
4. #27 James Hinchcliffe Andretti (C)
5. #3 Helio Castroneves Penske (C)
6. #55 Tristan Vautier Schmidt (H)
7. #25 Marco Andretti Andretti (C)
8. #1 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti (C)
9. #6 Sebastian Saavedra Dragon (C)
10. #10 Dario Franchitti Ganassi (H)
11. #11 Tony Kanaan KV Racing (C)
12. #4 JR Hildebrand Panther (C)
13. #19 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne (H)
14. #83 Charlie Kimball Ganassi (H)
15. #15 Graham Rahal RLL (H)
16. #67 Josef Newgarden SFHR (H)
17. #98 Alex Tagliani BHA (H)
18. #16 James Jakes RLL (H)
19. #77 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt (H)
20. #9 Scott Dixon Ganassi (H)
21. #7 Sebastien Bourdais Dragon (C)
22. #5 EJ Viso Andretti-HVM (C)
23. #20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter (C)
24. #4 JR Hildebrand Panther (C)
25. #18 Ana Beatriz Dale Coyne (H)