Marco Andretti Stakes Claim During Pocono Testing

A mere 35 miles away from his hometown, Marco Andretti posted a record breaking lap at 220.963 mph in qualifying trim at the Pocono Raceway. The track record set by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989 of 42.510 seconds (211.715 mph) did not stand a chance as all 24 drivers bested the track record.

Andretti admits the track is challenging and fun at the same time. “I think this just became my favorite race track,” Andretti said. “It’s so much fun. “It’s so different every lap and that’s the fun about it. You don’t know what to expect. You have to really be on the tools end-to-end and chase the car.  I think it’s going to produce a heck of a race.”

In pursuit of the Fuzzy’s Triple Crown, Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kannan was 2nd quick today.

“We worked on race set up a lot,” Kanaan said. “I’m happy with the car so we’ll see.”

The field was separate by 1.1 seconds.

Combined Session Results

Driver, Engine, Speed, Time

1. Marco Andretti, Chevrolet, 220.963 mph, 40.7308
2. Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 219.802 mph, 40.9460
3. Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 219.123 mph, 41.0729
4. Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 218.788 mph, 41.1357
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 218.293, 41.2290
6. Scott Dixon, Honda, 218.221 mph, 41.4245
7. Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 218.209 mph, 41.2448
8. James Hinchcliffe, Chevrolet, 218.190 mph, 41.2484
9. Will Power, Chevrolet, 218.171 mph, 41.2521
10. James Jakes, Honda, 217.801 mph, 41.3221
11. Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 217.770 mph, 41.3280
12. Charlie Kimball, Honda, 217.744 mph, 41.3330
13. Justin Wilson, Honda, 217.605 mph, 41.3594
14. Ryan Briscoe, Chevrolet, 217.527 mph, 41.3742
15. Dario Franchitti, Honda, 217.519 mph, 41.3757
16. Alex Tagliani, Honda, 217.500 mph, 41.3794
17. Josef Newgarden, Honda, 217.281 mph, 41.4211
18. E.J. Viso, Chevrolet, 217.248 mph, 41.4274
19. Takuma Sato, Honda, 217.189 mph, 41.4386
20. Tristan Vautier, Honda, 216.724 mph, 41.5274
21. Simona de Silvestro, Chevrolet, 215.824 mph, 41.7007
22. Graham Rahal, Honda, 215.489 mph, 41.7654
23. Pippa Mann, Honda, 215.348 mph, 41.7928
24. Sebastian Saavedra, 215.001 mph, 41.8603