Defending champion Dario Franchitti wins pole position for IndyCar season-opener in Brazil

Franchitti wins pole for IndyCar opener in Brazil

SAO PAULO — Defending champion Dario Franchitti of Scotland won the pole position for the IndyCar season-opener on the streets of Sao Paulo on Sunday.

Franchitti clocked 1 minute, 27.7354 seconds at the 2.6-mile Anhembi temporary circuit. Alex Tagliani of Canada was second, 0.0322 seconds back, and Justin Wilson of England was 0.0829 behind in third.

Qualifying for the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 was moved to Sunday after drivers complained on Saturday that the track’s front stretch lacked enough grip to make racing safe. Grooves were added to the Sambadrome straightaway overnight to fix the problem.

It was the first time in IndyCar Series history that qualifying and the race were taking place on the same day.

Franchitti had struggled on the first day of practice on Saturday and was nowhere near the front with his Target Chip Ganassi car, but he recovered nicely in Sunday’s session and will lead the pack in the first race of season.

It was a good start from Franchitti as he tries to win his third IndyCar title in four years. He lifted the trophy last year after an unsuccessful stint with NASCAR in 2008.

American Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport will start fourth, followed by the Penske of Australian driver Will Power. Hunter-Reay’s teammate Tony Kanaan was sixth and will be the Brazilian with the best starting spot.

Kanaan’s American teammates at Andretti Austosport, Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti, struggled and are back on the grid. Patrick, returning to IndyCar after running a few NASCAR races, will start 13th, while Marco Andretti will start 21st.

Patrick failed to advance past the first part of qualifying after officials accepted an appeal by Brazilian driver Raphael Matos, who initially had his best lap wiped out because of an accident he allegedly caused, but officials later decided that he was not at fault and Patrick ended bumped from the next stage.

Drivers went out for a 15-minute practice session early Sunday to test the new surface and approved the changes.

It was extremely dusty where the grooves were added, but drivers clearly had a lot more grip and the lap times were significantly lower. Cars were sliding and slipping throughout the straight on Saturday and several drivers crashed there in practice.

Drivers were not able to fully accelerate without losing control at the straight and said it was like driving on ice.

“It worked well, it’s not a problem anymore,” Brazilian rookie Ana Beatriz said. “There is enough grip there now.”

The straight goes through a stadium-like Sambadrome that stretches for about a third of a mile and is the only part of the track paved with concrete instead of asphalt. It is where Sunday’s 75-lap race is scheduled to start and finish.

The surface is usually painted for the traditional Carnival parades at the Sambadrome and it remained slippery even though organizers removed the paint ahead of the race.

The straight is the series’ longest ever at just short of a mile.

Organizers had three months to set up the track following the announcement that the IndyCar Series would be coming to Brazil for the first time since the CART series raced in the Latin American country from 1996 to 2000.