Marcus Armstrong qualified as the fastest of the Kiwis and will start tomorrow morning’s IndyCar race at the Indianapolis Road Course from seventh. Scott McLaughlin lines up from 11th, while Scott Dixon begins from the eighth row.
Graham Rahal took his first pole in six years, his best lap of 1:10.1132 in the fast six enough to top teammate Christian Lundgaard by 0.1154 seconds in the Fast Six as Rahal Letterman Lanigan lockout the front row.
Alexander Rossi and Patricio O’Ward line up on the second row ahead of Devlin Defrancesco and Romain Grosjean.
Championship leader Alex Palou could only go ninth-quickest in the Fast 12, while Josef Newgarden, second in the standings, starts from the tenth row.
McLaughlin was the first New Zealander to take to the track in qualifying, progressing to the Fast 12 with the fourth-best time. Joining him in advancing were Defreancesco, who topped the group, Jack Harvey, O’Ward, Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist. Newgarden, Will Power, Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta were amoung those who missed out.
Armstrong and Dixon were both in Group 2, which was topped by Lundgaard’s 1:10.0031. Rahal, Grosjean, Helio Castroneves, Palou and Armstrong were the other five to qualify for the Fast 12, the latter pipping Linus Lundqvist by 0.0873 seconds to scrape through in sixth. Dixon was eighth in the group, one position to the good of Marcus Ericsson.
Rahal set a 1:09.9837 in the Fast 12 to be fastest ahead of Lundgaard by 0.0240 seconds. Rossi, Grosjean, O’Ward and Defrancesco also progress to the Fast 6.
Armstrong’s 1:10.2106 was only 0.0008 seconds shy of Defrancesco’s time; the Kiwi left stranded in seventh. Harvey will start next to him in tomorrow’s race, and Palou and Rosenqvist will be behind. McLaughlin starts off the sixth row alongside Castroneves.
The Gallagher Grand Prix begins at 6.00 am tomorrow and will be shown live on Sky Sport 5.
Header Image: Chip Ganassi Racing
