Josef Newgarden will start tomorrow’s IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg from pole, narrowly topping Felix Rosenqvist in this morning’s Fast 6 Shootout.
Scott McLaughlin qualified as the first of the four-strong Kiwi contingent in ninth, one place ahead of Marcus Armstrong. Scott Dixon qualified 11th, seeing grids nine through eleven locked out by New Zealanders.
All three had progressed to the Fast 12 Shootout from the first round of qualifying, with McLaughlin and Armstrong advancing from Group 1 and Dixon from Group 2.
Marcus Ericsson’s late 59.3703 was the fastest time in the opening session, with Armstrong second-quickest. Also progressing were Pato O’Ward, Josef Newgarden, Rinus Veekay, and McLaughlin, who scraped through in sixth.
Defending champion Alex Palou will start the race from 13th, having narrowly missed out on making the second round of qualifying.
Tom Blomqvist, who had car issues on Friday that resulted in limited track time in the opening practice, begins from 17th.
Dixon was the sole Kiwi to qualify in Group 2, and a late 59.720 was enough for him to qualify for the top 12 from fifth in his session.
Colton Herta, who topped the group, Romain Grosjean, Felix Rosenqvist, Will Power, and Christian Lundgaard also progressed.
All three Kiwis would miss out on progressing to the top six, with the lap record broken twice in the Fast 12 Shootout, first by Herta and then by Rosenqvist.
The latter’s 59.2706 was the session’s best, followed by Herta’s 59.3157. Newgarden, Ericsson, Grosjean, and O’Ward also qualified for the shootout.
McLaughlin was only 0.0359 seconds outside the top six, with Armstrong, the best of the Chip Ganassi Racing contingent, a further 0.0386 seconds behind his compatriot.
Newgarden’s 59.5714, set late in the Fast 6 Shootout, was enough to claim the pole, narrowly pipping Rosenqvist by just 0.0058 seconds. O’Ward was third, eight-hundredths behind, and starts next to Herta on the second row.
Grosjean and Ericsson complete the top six.
The IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg begins at 6.00 am on Monday and will be shown live on Sky Sport.
Header Image: Penske Entertainment (Joe Skibinski)
