MOTEGI, Japan - Scott Dixon was right, after all. The real work for the pole position for the Indy Japan 300 came during practice sessions at Twin Ring Motegi, not during MBNA Pole Qualifying.

Heavy rain forced the cancellation of qualifying April 12 after just six of the 24 drivers made their qualifying runs, and Dixon earned the top starting spot for the historic first IRL IndyCarTM Series race overseas by posting the fastest practice speed of the weekend, 26.4353 seconds, 206.996 mph, Friday in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone.

It’s the first time Dixon will lead the field to the green flag in his IndyCar Series career, which started this season. The race is scheduled to start at 11:30 p.m. (EDT) Saturday on the 1.5-mile oval. It will be broadcast at 1 p.m. (EDT) Sunday on ABC and the IMS Radio Network.

Starting lineup for the Indy Japan 300 IRL IndyCar Series event on the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway with starting position, car number in parenthesis, driver, chassis-engine and qualifying speed in mph. Qualifying was rained out Saturday, and the lineup was set by the fastest practice speeds from the event, which are listed with each driver:

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 206.996
2. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 206.775
3. (12) Tora Takagi, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 206.747
4. (10) Tomas Scheckter, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 206.350
5. (27) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 206.020
6. (15) Kenny Brack, Dallara-Honda, 205.571
7. (8) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Toyota, 205.304
8. (31) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 205.129
9. (21) Felipe Giaffone, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 204.895
10. (7) Michael Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 204.863
11. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 204.765
12. (6) Alex Barron, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 204.326
13. (4) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Chevrolet, 203.068
14. (23) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Chevrolet, 202.600
15. (55) Roger Yasukawa, Dallara-Honda, 201.713
16. (2) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 201.626
17. (91) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200.687
18. (14) A.J. Foyt IV, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 200.630
19. (24) Robbie Buhl, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200.409
20. (52) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Chevrolet, 199.851
21. (54) Shinji Nakano, Dallara-Honda, 199.692
22. (5) Shigeaki Hattori, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 198.736
23. (13) Greg Ray, Panoz G Force-Honda, 198.497
24. (18) Scott Mayer, Dallara-Chevrolet, 196.315
.

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