Pagenaud wins pole for GP of Indianapolis
 |
| Simon Pagenaud |
Simon Pagenaud set a New Track Record en route to P1 for tomorrow’s Angie List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. However, the surprising news might just be that positions 3, 4 and 6 went to Honda teams… and none were Andretti.
Going into May, the multi-million dollar question is whether Honda would have another bad month of May at Indy. Last year was dismal, painful, and some people wondered if Honda would pull the plug on the effort. Well, if today’s results are any indication, the answer is that Honda might be a force to contend.
Round one saw 3 of Andretti Motorsports team mates competing with each other. Surprisingly – or not surprisingly, given their season to date – none of them advanced to the second round. Ryan Hunter-Reay was fastest of the group and will start 17th, Carlos Munoz will start 19th, and Marco will start 21st. Adding insult to injury is Alexander Rossi’s failure to reach the second round – his effort was a team-best and will start 14th.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Into the second round went the usual suspects – 3 Penske cars (Helio failed to transfer), 3 Ganassi cars, but also 4 Honda teams – Graham (which by now we’ve come to expect), James Hinchcliffe, Jack Hawksworth, and Mikhail Aleshin. Only Mikhail failed to transfer to the top 6, setting up a 3-Honda, 3-Chevy shootout representing 6 teams. Surprisingly, Juan Pablo Montoya failed to transfer, as did Scott Dixon and Will Power. JPM will start 8th, Dixon 9th, and Power 12th (Helio will start 15th).
During the first 2 rounds, 2 new track records were set. (Let’s be clear here, these are records for IndyCar in this track configuration; the F1 guys ran a different configuration, and when they weren’t blowing tires, were fast too.) And Pagenaud took the P1 award with a 1:08:6868, some 4/10 of a second faster than last year’s pace. Starting second will be Charlie Kimball, with Graham Rahal in third, James Hinchcliffe in fourth, Josef Newgarden in fifth, and Jack Hawksworth in sixth.
***
Pagenaud commented that his car felt “A lot like it did at Barber." And that if he makes it past turn 1, he should be in good shape. He did single out Graham as a guy who would run well in the race. Indeed, last year saw a turn 1 pileup that involved Scott Dixon along with several others. But when the cars are this evenly matched, gaining a spot or two in the start might be easier than getting them after things are sorted out.
***
Gabby Chaves looked deflated to day as he talked to AR1 reporters. While he was only 1 second slower than the provisional pole guys, that was good enough for last place on the provisional grid. And that’s where he ended up in qualification, back with Conor Daily. Qualification was crucial today since the field was so tightly grouped, and one wonders just how much passing will take place. Or just how much carbon fiber will die…..
***
Before Honda gets too excited about having 3 of the top 6 qualifiers, they will no doubt be depressed by having 8 of the bottom 9 qualifiers. Takuma Sato had shown early speed but ended up in 22nd position, barely faster than Alex Tagliani who barely got any seat time today prior to qualifications.
***
Sentimental favorite Matty Brabham, son of Geoff Brabham, grandson of Sir Jack Brabham, will start a respectable 16th.
***
Attending the race tomorrow? Bring a jacket. The locals are calling for 50’s temps and 20 mph wind. Ah, yes, Indy in May….
***
To absolutely no one’s surprise (who reads AR1), IndyCar announced that they are going back to Watkins Glen for Labor Day. If you’ve not been to the Glen, it’s similar to Road America and maybe VIR – a big beautiful hilly course, like a track set in the middle of a state park. But if you want a hotel, you’d better scamper – AR1 staff are already reporting that the rooms have started to sell out. But hell, it’s the Glen – take a camper or a tent, and buy a few bottles of the area fine Riesling wine, and enjoy the camp ground.
QUOTES
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "We made some really good changes on the Verizon Chevy and I thought we had a chance to make it to the Firestone Fast Six. During that one lap when I went from P1 to P8, the car was very strong, but I got too close to a car and picked up a lot of understeer. Overall, I don't believe what happened will affect the race tomorrow because we have a really good car. We're looking forward to a strong start tomorrow."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 hum by Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "Obviously it's disappointing. We kept having a problem with the brakes locking up. We'll find the answer to that. We're going to work really hard to get the hum by Verizon Chevy performing better for the race. It's not impossible to race your way to the front and that's what we'll do."
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): "I'm really happy with the No. 5 Arrow Electronics car. You saw how close the times were in practice. Missing by a fraction of a second makes such a difference, so credit to everyone in the Firestone Fast Six – it was just the guys who nailed the lap. It's so easy to make a mistake at this place and there are so many very inviting corners to just overdo it a little bit, but it's such a dream to drive this thing on a brand new set of sticker reds, for that one lap anyway."
JR HILDEBRAND (No. 6 Preferred Freezer Fuzzy's Vodka Chevrolet): "Qualifying was kind of frustrating. We've been chasing it a little bit this weekend, and it's all just so close. It's a little bit from me and a little bit from the car, it goes a long way. We didn't get enough out of that combined to be able to transfer. For us, we can have a look at what Josef's doing, which is a little bit different from what we were doing. We'll be able to gain some idea on where we need to improve for tomorrow. The race in a lot of ways is a whole different ballgame. Last year we played it smart and got through a lot of the mess down in Turn 1 and because we had made the car a little bit better and figured a few things out we were running in the top five for a lot of the day. It's about being smart tomorrow, but also being a little aggressive and being willing to gamble with the strategy to leapfrog up a few spots."
MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): "I think the team did a good job putting the No. 7 DOOM and SMP Racing car into the second round of qualifying. It was progress for us and P11 is a good place to start from. It's going to be a long race and I'm confident that we can score some good points."
MAX CHILTON (No. 8 Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "It was amazingly close like we were expecting. It's just typical that we're just on the wrong side. We did the same time as Montoya, but he did it before me. And to be fair, I got lucky at Barber like that. I did the same time as Aleshin at Barber, but because I did it before him, I got through. So it's really close. It's frustrating that we didn't make it through, but the good thing is that's the closest I've been to the leaders in those sessions in qualifying this year so we're definitely making progress. Hopefully we can get through Turn 1 cleaner than we did at Barber because Chip Ganassi Racing and Gallagher always give me a good car to race with."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series champion): "We are starting ninth, but I kind of made a mistake. As the No. 22 was backing up trying to get a clear track, as you always do, I was backing up into the No. 2 so I had to go and then I went off in Turn 12. Then I had to get behind the 2 and Power, and then those two were jostling and the No. 12 went off and then came back on in front of me. It was just a mess. We just never got a time in. The car has been fast – we were second quickest in Q1. On the blacks in the first part of Q2 we were second as well (first on black tires) and then we just didn't get a lap. Plain and simple – the Target car is fast but we didn't get a lap in."
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]TONY KANAAN (No. 10 NTT Group Chevrolet): "Great team effort today. I made a mistake on my last lap, and I think we could have made it to the Firestone Fast Six…When you are trying at the limit like that, it's tough. It was such a close qualifying session…half a tenth puts me back in sixth place instead of seventh so it was a great effort. We struggled all day yesterday so a great comeback from all the team on fixing what needed to be fixed. As a team we put three cars in the top 10 and one on the Firestone Fast Six. It's a big track, we can win from there."
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Team EUROPA – KVSH Chevrolet): "It was a strange qualifying session for the Europa – KVSH Racing team. The first round went pretty well, but I'm not quite sure what happened in Q2. I couldn't make any lap time on the reds (alternate tire). The car was very numb. It's back to that situation where we can't control the reds. It's frustrating because everybody on the team is working hard. It looked like we were in it (going to advance to the Firestone Fast Six) and now I am not sure what to attribute the problem to. We will to do our best to understand the problem, regroup for tomorrow and hope for a good race in what will be very different conditions. It is going to be cool, overcast and windy, so we'll see what happens."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, 2015 Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis winner): "We were great in practice and I messed up in qualifying. Again. It seems like it's every week now. It's getting pretty frustrating. It's difficult to race from the back in these races, but that's what we'll do tomorrow in our Verizon Chevy."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "It was a tough qualifying session. After making good progress in the morning from yesterday, we thought we had a good balance but going into qualifying, it was a dramatic difference in terms of the balance. We just struggled – a lot. We couldn't get the speed right – we failed. Hopefully we find something tonight and come back strong tomorrow."
SPENCER PIGOT (No. 16 RLL/Mi-Jack/Manitowoc Honda): "We had good potential after practice. Everything felt good but just didn't really maximize it on the red tires. I think we have a really good race car. I will try and stay out of trouble tomorrow on the first corner and pick them off as we can. It's good to have a teammate, especially one as quick as Graham is so I have a lot of great data to look at and we can compare notes about setup differences. The great thing about having a teammate is that we can help each other."
CONOR DALY (No. 18 Jonathan Byrd's Hospitality Honda): "I don't know why we're that far back. I thought we'd be a lot better. It's a shame. I think some of our issues in practice followed us into qualifying, but it's a long race here and there are lots of opportunities for overtaking. We're just going to go out and do what we always do and just try and fight forward. Everyone is dealing with the same thing, everyone is fighting for inches and we just haven't found enough of them yet. We're looking for two tenths every time. We need to work on our qualifying effort and I need to do that too. A lot of it is on me in this case, I still have to figure out these reds on Lap 1."
GABBY CHAVES (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda): "We made a lot of changes overnight and it didn't work this morning, so we kind of started from scratch in qualifying but we didn't make enough progress. We just have to keep working at it. It will be important to try and stay out of trouble tomorrow, especially on the first lap and try to see if we can get a good pit strategy going, and if we can dial the car in so it can be quick over the race it would be good. It's just so close that when you're just a few tenths off and looking for a little bit it makes a huge difference and that's what we're looking for."
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 21 Preferred Freezer Chevrolet): "Fifth in qualifying here for the GP of Indy is good. They are two different events here with the GP and the 500 but it's still nice to start this first weekend off good and then we'll just kind of settle in on oval mode after we get done with this GP of Indy race. It's a good start for us. We'll try to keep the form up all month. Hoping we can have a good, clean start. I got punted here last year in Turn 1. That's just kind of how this race works. It accordions into Turn 1 and I got the bad end of that last year and nearly went down a lap and struggled all race, so if we can get through Turn 1 clean, then I think we're going to have a pretty good day tomorrow."
SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet): "It's pretty fun right now, let me tell you. I'm just very thankful for the opportunity with Team Penske. They give me the best car. It's my job after that to do the best job possible. Ben (Bretzman), my engineer, gives me a monster car every time I'm out there. The Firestone tires, not just to put sponsor names here, but the red tires on my car really works magically every time. Obviously the more you go into Q3, the more confidence you gain, then you can polish your driving on these kind of tires. Certainly it's suiting me really well right now. I'm in a good zone. The whole team is executing really well. The 22 team, only our second year together, and it's exactly the same people as last year. Consistency, like Roger would say, is key. We definitely made big improvements."
CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 hhgregg Honda): "It was a really bad qualifying, we just missed the balance on the (Firestone alternate) reds. In practice we were looking a little bit better than the result we did. We have to work hard but it's a long race and we can overtake here. We'll see what's happening – we have to do lots of work for tomorrow."
 |
| Marco Andretti |
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 27 Snapple Honda): "I would have liked to have started higher on the grid – but if there's anywhere to pass on a road course, it's here at IMS. We aren't giving up yet. We'll have our work cut out for us in the Snapple car, but will fight the best we can."
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "We just lost the balance and maybe went with the wrong downforce for the higher track temps for qualifying midday compared to the beginning of the day. This morning we were P6, we just lost it with the wrong downforce level so will have to be smart with strategy tomorrow for the DHL car."
ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 35 Alfe Heat Treating Honda): "It's been a tough day for the team. Obviously we missed the setup on the red tires, but I think we can regroup from that. One of our teams has a good setup, and it's working really well for them. I think we need to try to regroup tonight to see if we can get as good of a car as they have, then play a little bit of a strategy game tomorrow to get ourselves some position towards the end of the race."
JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 41 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "Seems like an eternity since I've been in the Firestone Fast Six. Nice to be up here again.Great day for the team. We had a very good car on the new reds in the first group, seemed to work well in the second as well. Didn't quite have enough at the end. But overall it was a really good day for us. We really needed it as well. Now we focus forward for the race, see what we can do."
MATT BRABHAM (No. 61 PIRTEK Team Murray Chevrolet): "Every lap I'm getting quicker and quicker and I still feel as though I haven't got to the limit yet. The PIRTEK Team Murray crew is doing an excellent job – the guys are really pushing along well. I need to keep pushing myself along and work with the guys on moving forward together. It's a special thing to have the No. 61 and the Brabham name on top of the pylon at Indy – even if for a short amount of time, it doesn't get better than that."
CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Tresiba Chevrolet): "We made the race car better and better, and we didn't focus too much on qualifying. So I think we have a good pace for tomorrow. Having finished fifth here the last two years, I'm looking forward to the race. It's neat to be on the front row. Congrats to Simon (Pagenaud) for getting the pole. I think we would have had to have the perfect lap to be able to match his lap time. It looks like it's pretty close to a track record. That's pretty impressive. But coming through tomorrow with a clear track at IMS is pretty special. It means that there's just one guy in front of me and 23 behind me, so we're going to try and keep it that way all day."
ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 98 Castrol Edge/Curb Honda): "It's really disappointing to be finished (qualifying) after Round 1. I thought we had a good shot today. It's by far the best car I've had this year, so we have definitely made progress there. When you have four guys with the same lap time in front of you, it's a pretty tight field. I'm disappointed in that one, but we made forward progress so we'll carry that into tomorrow."
Lineup
| Rank | Car | Driver Name | Make | Time | Speed | Session |
| 1 | 22 | Pagenaud, Simon | Chevy | 01:08.6868 | 127.832 | Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
| 2 | 83 | Kimball, Charlie | Chevy | 01:08.9816 | 127.286 | Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
| 3 | 15 | Rahal, Graham | Honda | 01:09.1816 | 126.918 | Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
| 4 | 5 | Hinchcliffe, James | Honda | 01:09.2260 | 126.837 | Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
| 5 | 21 | Newgarden, Josef | Chevy | 01:09.4316 | 126.461 | Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
| 6 | 41 | Hawksworth, Jack | Honda | 01:09.5141 | 126.311 | Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
| 7 | 10 | Kanaan, Tony | Chevy | 01:09.2511 | 126.791 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 8 | 2 | Montoya, Juan Pablo | Chevy | 01:09.2645 | 126.766 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 9 | 9 | Dixon, Scott | Chevy | 01:09.4010 | 126.517 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 10 | 11 | Bourdais, Sebastien | Chevy | 01:09.4436 | 126.439 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 11 | 7 | Aleshin, Mikhail | Honda | 01:09.6771 | 126.016 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 12 | 12 | Power, Will | Chevy | 01:09.9297 | 125.560 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 13 | 8 | Chilton, Max (R) | Chevy | 01:09.3289 | 126.648 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 14 | 98 | Rossi, Alexander (R) | Honda | 01:09.1475 | 126.981 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 15 | 3 | Castroneves, Helio | Chevy | 01:09.4947 | 126.346 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 16 | 61 | Brabham, Matt (R) | Chevy | 01:09.2944 | 126.712 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 17 | 28 | Hunter-Reay, Ryan | Honda | 01:09.5276 | 126.287 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 18 | 6 | Hildebrand, JR | Chevy | 01:09.4377 | 126.450 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 19 | 26 | Munoz, Carlos | Honda | 01:09.6457 | 126.072 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 20 | 16 | Pigot, Spencer (R) | Honda | 01:09.4591 | 126.411 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 21 | 27 | Andretti, Marco | Honda | 01:09.7478 | 125.888 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 22 | 14 | Sato, Takuma | Honda | 01:09.4659 | 126.399 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 23 | 35 | Tagliani, Alex | Honda | 01:10.4109 | 124.702 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 24 | 18 | Daly, Conor (R) | Honda | 01:09.4795 | 126.374 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 25 | 19 | Chaves, Gabby | Honda | 01:09.7720 | 125.844 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
Revised Lineup
1. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:08.6868 (127.832)
2. (83) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 01:08.9816 (127.286)
3. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:09.2260 (126.837)
4. (41) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 01:09.5141 (126.311)
5. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 01:09.2511 (126.791)
6. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 01:09.2645 (126.766)
7. (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 01:09.4010 (126.517)
8. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 01:09.4436 (126.439)
9. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 01:09.6771 (126.016)
10. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:09.9297 (125.560)
11. (8) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 01:09.3289 (126.648)
12. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:09.1475 (126.981)
13. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 01:09.4947 (126.346)
14. (61) Matt Brabham, Chevrolet, 01:09.2944 (126.712)
15. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:09.5276 (126.287)
16. (6) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 01:09.4377 (126.450)
17. (26) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 01:09.6457 (126.072)
18. (16) Spencer Pigot, Honda, 01:09.4591 (126.411)
19. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 01:09.7478 (125.888)
20. (14) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:09.4659 (126.399)
21. (35) Alex Tagliani, Honda, 01:10.4109 (124.702)
22. (18) Conor Daly, Honda, 01:09.4795 (126.374)
23. (19) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 01:09.7720 (125.844)
24. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, No time
25. (21) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, No time
Note: Times for Rahal and Newgarden were disallowed for violating Rule 14.3.1.1 (Minimum car weight)
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]