Grosjean captures IndyCar pole for Indianapolis road race

LOS ANGELES: France’s Romain Grosjean captured his first IndyCar series pole position Friday in just his third race — and less than six months after his terrifying Formula One crash in Bahrain.

Grosjean turned a top lap of 1 minute, 9.4396 seconds in the Fast Six final round of qualifying to put his Dale Coyne car powered by Honda on pole for Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

It’s his first open-wheel pole position since he claimed the top spot in GP2 — the final ladder series leading into Formula One — in May 2011 at Istanbul.

Grosjean, 35, arrived in IndyCar this season after 10 seasons in Formula One.

His F1 career ended in a fiery crash last November in Bahrain in which he escaped an inferno with serious burns to his hands.

“Amazing,” Grosjean said of his pole on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “When I saw the (first qualifying) group I was in, I was like, ‘Oh, dear, if we can get out of the first group, we’re going to be OK,’ and we did.