Dixon leads before Indycar qualifying postponed

Qualifying for the IndyCar season-opener on the streets of Sao Paulo has been postponed until Sunday because the main straight lacked enough grip to make racing safe.

Drivers would instead run the warm-up session on Saturday, giving officials time to try to improve track conditions overnight. Qualifying was rescheduled for Sunday morning.

Drivers complained that the temporary circuit for the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 had severe bumps and was risky on the slick front straight.

The straight goes through a Sambadrome, a stadium-like venue that stretches for about a third of a mile (500 meters) and is the only part of the track with concrete instead of asphalt. It is where the traditional Carnival takes place every year in Sao Paulo.

"It's really slippery over there and it's hard to control the car," three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves said. "They need to try to fix that somehow."

The straightaway is where Sunday's 75-lap race is scheduled to start.

New Zealander Scott Dixon led both practice sessions before officials decided to postpone qualifying. He was quickest with a lap of 1 minute, 31.7707 seconds at the 2.6-mile (4.2-kilometer), 11-turn Anhembi temporary street circuit.

Australia's Ryan Briscoe finished with the second-fastest time with 1:31.9731, followed by Tony Kanaan's lap of 1:31.9753 in front of his home crowd.

The faster times of the day came in the first session because of colder temperatures. Dixon, Briscoe and Kanaan also led in the afternoon, when the heat made track conditions even worse.

Drivers began complaining as soon as the first cars went out on the track for the first practice, which officially opened the newly built circuit in the city of 12 million people.

In addition to the severe bumps, the main problem was that the front straight was too slippery and kept drivers from being able to fully accelerate without losing control.

Milka Duno of Venezuela crashed there in the morning session, and Briscoe and Brazilian rookie Ana Beatriz lost control there in the afternoon.

Kanaan said the slick straight and some of the bumps were making the track too unsafe and urged officials to see if they could make some adjustments ahead of Sunday's race.

"My main concern is safety," the Brazilian driver said.

Defending series champion Dario Franchitti, who briefly ran off the track in the first session, heavily complained of the bumps.

"We knew it was going to be bumpy," he said. "But this is kind of crazy."

Franchitti, Dixon's teammate at the Target Chip Ganassi team, ran a fast lap of 1:33.8457, good only for 17th place. He was 11th in the afternoon practice, with a slower time.

Castroneves had the eighth fastest time with a lap of 1:32.9402, while American Danica Patrick clocked 1:34.7795 and failed to get past 22th place. She spun in the second session.

The street circuit is one of the highlights of the season, with the Sambadrome and the series' longest ever straight, which is just short of a mile (1.6 kilometers). Some of the bumps were in that area, where cars reach nearly 190 miles (305 kilometers).

Organizers had to set up the track in only about three months 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 1996-2000.

The IndyCar Series is trying to carry momentum from a thrilling season in 2009, when the points lead changed hands a record 15 times throughout the season, and three drivers reached the final race with chances to clinch the title.

Franchitti secured the trophy by winning the finale in Miami on fuel strategy, finishing just ahead of Dixon and Briscoe in the standings.

- AP