Scott McLaughlin is the best placed Kiwi on the grid following this morning’s qualifying session for the IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg after qualifying fifth despite crashing in Q3.
It was a contrast in fortunes for the Chip Ganassi Racing duo of Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong who both failed to make it to the Fast Six shootout. Dixon did, however, progress from his qualifying group before getting knocked out in the final 12.
He’ll start in ninth with defending champion Will Power alongside in 10th.
Armstrong was eliminated from Group 1 of Qualifying 1 after setting the seventh fastest time of 13 competitors. He was in the same group as McLaughlin who progressed with fifth.
In the faster Group 2 Dixon was quick early on, one of four drivers to set a lap under 1 minute across both groups to progress from third.
The speed picked up in Q2 with 11 of the 12 runners all setting times under one minute. It was a big ask for Dixon in an extremely tight pack with all 12 qualifiers within half a second of each other. The 52-time race winner was left ninth, .032 off sixth place. That position went to McLaughlin who pipped CGR racer Alex Palou by just .01 seconds.
“Definitely interesting day today, crashing in practice this morning,” Dixon said about a crash in this morning’s practice which saw him slide rear-first into a tyre barrier.
“Not too much damage which was great to get the car fixed. Went into qualifying with a few unknowns. We were the quickest in Q1, looking good in Q2, then we had a big balance shift on the last set of tires and just had a lot of understeer. We missed by a few hundredths and frustrating as we’ll start ninth. The PNC Bank No. 9 is definitely a lot quicker than that. It’s been one of the those weekends where we miss by a little bit when it counted the most.”
The Fast Six began it quickly became the Fast Five once it began after Kyle Kirkwood slid straight on the final turn to hit the concrete. He was able to drive his wreckage for the short journey back to pitlane.
It was McLaughlin’s turn to be in the wars next shortly after proceedings resumed. The Turn 10 wall was the cause of his trouble, his right-rear toelink breaking on impact resulting in him spinning through the chicane with his lap time deleted.
This left the door open for the four remaining competitors, Romaine Grosjean putting all his experience to use to qualify on pole. Colton Herta locks out the front row for Andretti Autosport with second on the grid.
Arrow McLaren’s Patricio O’Ward will start third ahead of top-placed CGR driver Marcus Ericsson, leaving McLaughlin and Kirkwood in fifth and sixth respectively.
Dixon will start in his Q2 position of ninth whilst Armstrong will start 13th, the best of the rookies in the field.
Qualifying done and dusted,” Armstrong said following the session. “A little bit earlier than I would have liked. But it was close. Probably not the best scenario for us with the red flag at the end with us not getting out there to do another lap. But the No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants was really good; It’s just the fine margins.”
The IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg begins at 6am NZ time tomorrow and will be shown live on Sky Sport 5.
