INDIANAPOLIS — Just when it looked like Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was going to be the story of the day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Alex Palou delivered a dominant final lap to win the pole for Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix.
Palou’s final lap in Friday’s Firestone Fast Six was four-tenths of a second faster than Graham Rahal’s fast tour. Palou’s fast lap was 1:09.341 around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in the No. 10 DHL Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing.
Palou is attempting to win the Sonsio Grand Prix for the third year in a row, and attempting to win his fourth race out of the first five IndyCar contests this season.
“We had a bit of an advantage there with a set of brand-new soft tires,” said Palou, who earned his second straight Sonsio Grand Prix pole and the eighth of his career. “Maybe that is where the time came from, but that DHL car is super-fast. It’s been super-fast all season, but especially today.
“We know it’s pretty special. It’s tough to be competitive in IndyCar, but we are enjoying this wave as long as it continues. It’s been an incredible job for DHL and Chip Ganassi Racing.”
All three Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers made the Fast Six with Rahal starting on the front row.
Rahal’s best speed was 1:09.7516 in the No 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
“I didn’t think we would be on the front row because there were a lot of good cars competing,” Rahal said. “It feels great for the No. 15 team. We expect to be good on the Indy road course, but to see it come together with three cars in the top five is amazing.”
RLL rookie driver Louis Foster was third at 1:09.8801 in the No. 45 Honda followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin at 1:09.8910 in the No. 3 Chevrolet. Another Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver, Devlin DeFrancesco, was fifth at 1:09.9432 in the No. 45 Honda.
Two-time and back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winning driver Josef Newgarden rounded out the Fast Six at 1:09.9829 in the No. 2 Chevrolet.
New to Friday’s qualifications and Saturday’s race is IndyCar’s tire regulations giving each team two sets of softer Firestone “Reds” and two sets of harder Firestone “Blacks” in the race.
Teams must run at least two laps on each set of tires, guaranteeing a three-stop race for nearly every driver in the field.
In the first group in segment one, O’Ward was the fastest at 1:09.7902 followed by Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci, Louis Foster and Kyffin Simpson.
Missing out were Colton Herta, Marcus Armstrong, Sting Ray Robb, Christian Rasmussen, Kyle Kirkwood, Callum Ilott and Jacob Abel.
“I didn’t get a chance to run the Reds this morning,” Kirkwood said. “We took a gamble on that, and it didn’t work out. We want to save a set of tires for the race.
“It’s disappointing. I don’t have any positive things to say right now, to be honest. I’m disappointed in qualifying.”
Herta was baffled by his car on Friday.
“The balance hasn’t been a problem,” Herta said. “It’s a weird thing. I’ve been happy with the car, we’re just slow. We’re finding a nice balance in the race car. It’s nice in the race, but we’ve been chasing our tails all weekend.
“I get three sets of Reds for Saturday; we’ll only use two and we’ll go from there.”
No surprise in the second group as Palou was the fastest at 1:09.8625 followed by Devlin DeFrancesco, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden.
Those who did not advance were Christian Lundgaard, Scott Dixon, Nolan, Siegel, Marcus Ericsson, Conor Daly, Rinus VeeKay, David Malukas and Robert Shwartzman.
“It’s frustrating,” Dixon said. “The car feels pretty decent. Alex is good in the braking areas. We could have had a more positive on the second set of tires. The car is good, but it’s frustrating, to be honest.
“We were on the used tires for the start of practice two. Maybe tomorrow will be spicier, but it’s frustrating to be honest.”
Palou was the fastest in the second segment at 1:09.7025 followed by Rahal, Foster, DeFrancesco, Newgarden and McLaughlin. Those drivers advanced to the Fast Six.
First out was Power followed by O’Ward, Rossi, Simpson, Ferrucci and Rosenqvist.
“I lost two-tenths in the first two corners,” Power said. “The rest of the lap was really solid. It’s tight man, very tight. I went for two Reds in the first round, the first I’ve ever done that.
“It’s tight. It would have been awesome to make it into the Fast Six, but it will be an interesting race on Saturday.”
Power starts seventh and O’Ward will start eighth.
“If you don’t have a good straight-line here, you go straight to the back,” O’Ward said. “Every run, we get slower and slower. That’s where it put us.”
