Full Throttle

Ryan Briscoe will start on the pole for Saturday’s Rexall Edmonton Indy after winning a qualifying session Friday that saw Canadian Marty Roth shatter any front-running hopes for fellow Canadian Paul Tracy.

Briscoe, the 26-year-old Aussie racer with Team Penske, recorded the fastest lap time of 1.00:7311 on the 14-turn airport/street course to win his second pole in four weeks.

Teammate Helio Castroneves will start beside him on the front row.

“Wow, I mean we had to work for that one,” said Briscoe.

“It was just unbelievable. We were definitely thrashing for an hour-and-a-half there just trying to keep in there and get to the fast six (final round).

He said he didn’t mind almost being run down by Castroneves.

“As long as it’s Team Penske in the front it’s all good.”

It’s the second straight weekend that Team Penske will be leading the race grid. Briscoe started second at Mid-Ohio last week en route to the checkered flag and his second win of the season.

He also won on the short oval in Milwaukee June 1.

Tracy will start 16th in the 27-driver grid.

The 39-year-old Toronto native was close to making the cut when the first round of qualifying was shut down with a minute to go under a full-course caution flag after Roth, also of Toronto, spun out and stalled in the middle of the track.

Tracy managed to get one more lap in before time ran out, but it wasn’t fast enough and the “Thrill from West Hill” will start in the middle of the pack for Saturday’s 95-lap race at the City Centre Airport track (5 p.m. ET, TSN).

“We’re a little bit frustrated,” said Tracy.

“I went quick enough to advance but the checkered (flag) fell before I got the lap time.”

The qualifying sessions are effectively a three-round knockout. The 27 drivers raced in two groups in the first round. The top 12 then moved to the second round and the top six then raced in the third to determine final positioning.

Fan favourite Danica Patrick was knocked out in the first qualifying session and will start 15th.

It has been a tough weekend for Patrick and many of the IndyCar drivers who were learning the Edmonton course, which was part of the old Champ Car Series.

“I took home about 20 pieces of paper last night with squiggly lines and notes on them,” said Patrick.

“I’m just trying to figure out where it is that we’re off. As a team we have some things we need to improve on for us to go faster.”

It was a hard day for all of the Andretti-Green team.

Besides Patrick, rookie Hideki Mutoh slid into the safety barrier and will start 22nd. Tony Kanaan spun off course in the first round and roared backward on the grass, frying his engine. He’ll start 12th.

Justin Wilson, the former Champ Car driver who won in Edmonton in 2006, managed to make it to the final round with a fast lap even though he lost control fighting understeer going through a corner.

His No. 2 McDonald’s car bounced off a tire barrier and scraped the safety fence and couldn’t compete in the final round.

“I overstepped the mark and it bit me,” he said.

Roth will be on the second-last row at 25th.

It was a hot day, with an ambient temperature of 28 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 43 degrees.

Townsend Bell, who will run 25th, summed up the struggles for the drivers in the smaller IndyCar teams trying to master a new course in a hurry.

“It’s been a challenge all weekend,” said Bell.

“We’re still trying to figure out what the right (car) set-up should be.”