Under the sun of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the battle for pole position is on. Will Alex Palou continue to show dominance or can an outsider come and reduce his chances ?
Pressure is on the grid for that Sonsio Grand Prix as Alex Palou sets a 60 points lead in the championship. Winning the last two editions, he can keep this form and be the first driver since Josef Newgarden to win three straight races at World Wide Technology Raceway from 2020-2022. This edition of the Sonsio Grand Prix will be the 17th INDYCAR SERIES event conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Alex Palou took the first time in Free Practice 1. However, Graham Rahal set the fastest time in Free Practice 2. With a precedent of six pole positions, can Will Power fight for the top spot ?
Two big names out of group 1
Pato O’Ward was the first to make a time, with a 1:13.931. It is quickly topped by Louis Foster, going 0.7 faster. After the installation laps, time started to go near the 1:10, until Pato O’Ward touched the 1:09 with only four minutes remaining. Alexander Rossi was the second driver to go into the 1:09, followed by Ferrucci. On his last attempt, the AJ Foyt driver put one of his tyres into the grass and almost spun. The biggest surprise was probably Kirkwood and Herta not making it into the top 6. With no chance of testing the red tyres in practice, Kyle Kirkwood was not surprised to not qualify : “There was only one lap to get it done and I didn’t really had a reference if I’m being honest, and I ended up locking up at Turn 7 every so slightly but it was enough.”
Qualified : O’Ward, Rossi, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci, Foster and Simpson
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Will Power was the first one on track, preparing his red tyres as best as he could. He set a 1:10.216 time, but was quickly beaten by Josef Newgarden. However, the Australian driver did not go down without a fight and pulled a 1:09.950 time. With four minutes remaining on the clock, Alex Palou was only in P6. He comforted his place by going fastest in 1:09.862. Scott Dixon and Christian Lundgaard both failed to qualify in the top 6, whereas Devlin DeFrancesco took second place, taking all Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars into the top 12. Scott Dixon didn’t really understand what was wrong : “It’s kind of frustrating, the car feels pretty decent … I missed by half a tenth but still the car feels good, so I don’t know what we’re missing.”
Qualified : Palou, DeFrancesco, Power, Rahal, McLaughlin and Newgarden
Great performance from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
The battle for the top 6 spots is on, with Alex Palou taking the track first. Will Power set the fastest time at 1:10.397, showing they can all still improve by the end of the session. Graham Rahal, like most of the drivers, was complaining about the grip on the rear of his car. On the last run, the track seemed to improve as all drivers improved their time, with DeFrancesco taking first place. It was chaotic in the end, with the timesheet changing constantly, while Rosenqvist took a trip into the grass, ending his chances of going into the top 6. Pato O’Ward and Will Power both didn’t make it. Alex Palou once again took the top spot, and all three Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars made it into the Firestone Fast 6.
Qualified : Palou, Rahal, Foster, DeFrancesco, Newgarden and McLaughlin
Who for the pole ?
Only three drivers went out, on used red tyres, for the first run: Rahal, Palou and Foster. After pitting for a new set, only four minutes remained on the clock. Louis Foster was fastest with a 1:09.880 time, being the one to beat. Rahal beat his teammate by only 0.1, while the favorite, Alex Palou, was still in sixth position. Ultimately, the number 10 driver in his Chip Ganassi took the pole, in 1:09.341. Louis Foster, with only five races under his belt, is third on the grid. The strategy could have played a great part in Alex Palou’s pole : “We had a bit of an advantage there with a set of new red tyres. Some people used it in Q1, but we didn’t, so maybe that’s where the time comes, but the car felt amazing, super fast as it has been super fast all season. Today, it’s been on fire.”