Scott Dixon qualified best of the Kiwis in this morning’s IndyCar GMR Grand Prix qualifying and will start from ninth on the grid for tomorrow’s race on the Indianapolis Road Course.
Marcus Armstrong will start directly behind in 11th, while Scott McLaughlin starts from the eighth row in 16th.
It was Christian Lundgaard who took his maiden IndyCar pole, the Dane topping Felix Rosenqvist by just .002 of a second. Alex Palou and Jack Harvey lock out the second row, while Pato O’Ward and Kyle Kirkwood rounding out row three.
Armstrong was the sole Kiwi to race out of Qualifying Group 1, the Kiwi immediately showing pace to challenge the top six through the early stages. A late flyer put him to the top of the time sheets, only for Lundgaard, Graham Rahal and Rosenqvist to go faster. His 1:09.6186 was still enough to see him progress to the final 12.
Both Dixon and Scott McLaughlin were put into Group 2, with Dixon’s 1:09.6708 seeing him sneak through to the final 12 in sixth place. McLaughlin was failed to progress, his best time of 1:09.9899 leaving him eighth in the group.
Both Dixon and Armstrong were knocked out of Qualifying 2, Dixon’s best lap putting him ninth but only .06 of a second off making the Fast 6 in an extremely tight mid-field.
Armstrong was a further 0.15 seconds back, qualifying 11th as the top rookie.
Tomorrow’s GMR Grand Prix begins at 7.30 am and will be shown live on Sky Sport 5.
