IndyCar: Palou Earns the Pole at WeatherTech Raceway
Alex Palou claimed the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey pole with a lap time of 1m07.1465s. Palou earned his second pole of the season and fifth of his career.
“It was really tough, really tight all qualifying to get to the Fast 12 and then the Fast Six,” Palou said. “It was really tricky with track conditions. As soon as there was some wind, you couldn’t really finish the lap because there was no grip.
“Really happy. The car was on rails today, so the best starting position for tomorrow.”
Kyle Kirkwood will start on the front row next to Palou after turning a lap of 1m07.2204s.
Felix Rosenqvist will start third tomorrow after his fast lap time of 1m07.2917s.
Kirkwood’s Andretti Global teammate, Colton Herta, will start in Row 2 with a lap of 1m07.2972s.
Alexander Rossi will start fifth after turning a lap of 1m07.3594s.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Christian Lundgaard will start sixth with his lap of 1m07.5112s.
Alex Palou
This is Palou’s second pole of the season. The first one at the Sonsio Grand Prix in May.
“Today was amazing. Car was really good. It’s been good all weekend. But it was really tough. Like, if you see the gaps, even Q1, Fast 12, now Fast Six, it was tough. You had to nail everything.”
“So yeah, glad I did it. The car was on rails. It was one of my favorite places, and it’s becoming probably my favorite place.”
“It’s tough. Now with the grip we have, it’s super tough to get that last 10th or half a 10th of lap time. Then you have the wind that blows up some dirt on track. Maybe you go from understeer to huge oversteer.”
“Yeah, it’s tough to judge, tough to commit. But once you nail a lap, it feels super rewarding.”
Firestone GP of Monterey Qualifying Results
|
Rank |
Car |
Driver Name |
Engine |
Time |
Speed |
Session |
|
1 |
10 |
Palou, Alex |
Honda |
01:07.1465 |
119.988 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
2 |
27 |
Kirkwood, Kyle |
Honda |
01:07.2204 |
119.856 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
3 |
60 |
Rosenqvist, Felix |
Honda |
01:07.2917 |
119.729 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
4 |
26 |
Herta, Colton |
Honda |
01:07.2972 |
119.720 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
5 |
7 |
Rossi, Alexander |
Chevy |
01:07.3594 |
119.609 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
6 |
45 |
Lundgaard, Christian |
Honda |
01:07.5112 |
119.340 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
7 |
3 |
McLaughlin, Scott |
Chevy |
01:07.3994 |
119.538 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
8 |
77 |
Grosjean, Romain |
Chevy |
01:07.4286 |
119.486 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
9 |
5 |
O’Ward, Pato |
Chevy |
01:07.4900 |
119.378 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
10 |
9 |
Dixon, Scott |
Honda |
01:07.5874 |
119.206 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
11 |
11 |
Armstrong, Marcus |
Honda |
01:07.6143 |
119.158 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
12 |
66 |
Malukas, David |
Honda |
01:07.8422 |
118.758 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
13 |
78 |
Canapino, Agustin |
Chevy |
01:07.8976 |
118.661 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
14 |
2 |
Newgarden, Josef |
Chevy |
01:07.7246 |
118.964 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
15 |
12 |
Power, Will |
Chevy |
01:08.0178 |
118.451 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
16 |
8 |
Lundqvist, Linus (R) |
Honda |
01:07.8056 |
118.822 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
17 |
14 |
Ferrucci, Santino |
Chevy |
01:08.0344 |
118.422 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
18 |
28 |
Ericsson, Marcus |
Honda |
01:07.9233 |
118.616 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
19 |
15 |
Rahal, Graham |
Honda |
01:08.0922 |
118.322 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
20 |
21 |
VeeKay, Rinus |
Chevy |
01:07.9897 |
118.500 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
21 |
20 |
Rasmussen, Christian (R) |
Chevy |
01:08.3711 |
117.839 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
22 |
4 |
Simpson, Kyffin (R) |
Honda |
01:08.1571 |
118.209 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
23 |
6 |
Siegel, Nolan (R) |
Chevy |
01:08.6785 |
117.312 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
24 |
30 |
Fittipaldi, Pietro |
Honda |
01:08.1824 |
118.165 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
25 |
41 |
Robb, Sting Ray |
Chevy |
01:09.1304 |
116.545 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
26 |
18 |
Harvey, Jack |
Honda |
01:08.4730 |
117.664 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
27 |
51 |
Ghiotto, Luca (R) |
Honda |
01:08.5078 |
117.604 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
(R) Rookie |
Lucille Dust reporting live from Laguna Seca