After setting some of the best times in both of Friday's practice sessions, drivers such as Will Power, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal continued to impress today as the IndyCar series tried out the new F1-style "knockout" qualifying for the first time.

There were two "first" sessions with 13 drivers, with the fastest six from each going on to the next round: those not making the cut would be slotted in the starting grid no higher than 13th based on their best lap time. The second session would cut away another six, who would line up 7th - 12th, with the best six getting one last shot at claiming the pole.

Of the twelve drivers who advanced to session #2, five were from teams that competed in the CCWS last year. Rookie Franck Perera and sophmore driver Graham Rahal failed to make the fast six, along with Oriol Servia, who was bumped at the last second by Penske driver Helio Castroneves. Will Power and Justin Wilson did survive, and posted last session times good enough to line up 2nd and 3rd, respectively, behind polesitter Tony Kanaan.

The biggest suprise from the veteran IndyCar squads was the disapointing runs of the Ganassi Racing duo. Nearly all of Scott Dixon's attempted "hot laps" fell victim to traffic or another driver's on-course incident, which brought out caution flag conditions on-track. While Dan Wheldon did make it into the secon session, he could only manage a time good enough for an 8th place grid spot.

Here is the complete starting grid for tomorrow's race:

http://www.indycar.com/grid/

The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg starts at 2:30pm EST/6:30pm GMT 

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes