Power on race two pole, title contenders down the order

Team Penske’s Will Power took his second Indianapolis road course pole of the season, as Josef Newgarden qualified six spots ahead of title rival Scott Dixon.

As per previous road course races this year, qualifying is split into two groups. The fastest time from either takes pole, and then the drivers in the pole winner’s group occupy the odd numbers of the grid. The opposite group then takes the even numbers on the grid in an A-B-A-B format.

The star studded gaggle to watch was the second group on track, containing Friday race winner Newgarden, his title rival Dixon and previous July Indianapolis road course pole winner, Power.

Power delivered a phenomenal lap on the harder black tyres in the initial phase of qualifying, and when he bolted on the soft tyres he was the first driver to dip into the 1m08s.

It was not to be beaten as he scored a fourth pole position of the year and a fifth on this track in nine attempts, with Colton Herta starting alongside.

Herta denied himself a chance for victory yesterday by over-using the rear tyres when on softs, but came out on top of Saturday’s first qualifying group to claim a vital championship point in his battle to consolidate third in the standings.

On a run of three straight podiums including yesterday, when he felt a stewards’ call robbed him of a chance to win, Herta’s Andretti team-mate Alexander Rossi will start from third on the grid.

Rookie Alex Palou took fourth on the grid for Dale Coyne Racing, ahead of Patricio O’Ward, who is fighting ex-Indy Lights rival Herta for third in the standings after losing the spot in Friday’s race.

Ryan Hunter-Reay continued a strong recent run for Andretti in sixth, ahead of Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist.

That left Newgarden – who has taken 77 points out of Scott Dixon over the last four races and is 40 points behind the Ganassi driver – in ninth ahead of Graham Rahal.

Newgarden locked up on an initial run on the black tyres but looked better on the reds, before he tumbled down the order later on in the group, even if he didn’t fall as far as Dixon.

The championship leader was displeased with his performance on the reds in Friday’s race and will have to try to fight back from 15th on the grid to quell Newgarden’s recent momentum.

Today’s race is followed by the St Petersburg season finale at the end of October.

Qualifying Results