Australian Ryan Briscoe snatched the P2 class pole position in Friday qualifying for the Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway with a time of 1.39.796.

This is Briscoe’s first pole position since the Baltimore Grand Prix.

“That was really exciting. For me one of the most exciting tracks to qualify at. There are really high speeds. With the down force you can get really quick.”

Briscoe qualified ahead of fellow Level 5 driver Mario Franchitti and the ESM car of Johannes van Overbeek.

Briscoe and the rest of the P2 field took to the track for qualification after a lengthy delay from the GT qualifying session.

The racing line entering and exiting the now oak-less, Oak Tree corner was covered with oil-dry after the GT session, making the corner especially difficult.

The ESM car of Scott Sharp suffered harder than the rest of the P2 field when he and his ARX-03b went straight off the track and damaged the nose of the HPD in tire barrier.

Briscoe will help his team boss Scott Tucker to chase down the man leading the drivers’ championship, Marino Franchitti.

Franchitti also drives under the Level 5 stable and is 11 points up on Tucker before Saturday’s race.
The strategy for the team is still to take maximum points.

“My job is really simple since I’m driving with Scott,” said Briscoe. “When I get in, I drive it home for the win. We want to finish first and second.”