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Detroit IndyCar: Will Power on pole as Penske dominates qualifying

Will Power will lead an all-Penske front row for the opening race of this weekend's IndyCar double-header in Detroit

Power only needed one lap during the Fast Six session to secure the top spot, but he completed a second flying lap anyway and shaved off a little more time to settle on a new track record of 1m16.0941s.

Team-mate Helio Castroneves fell just 0.02 seconds short of beating the Australian, while Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya slotted in just behind to complete a Team Penske 1-2-3.

Previous lap record holder and last year's Detroit Sunday polesitter Takuma Sato enjoyed a brief spell at the top before being bumped down by the Penske trio, but the Foyt driver was still quick enough to hold onto the fourth spot on the grid as the sole Honda representative in the top six.

Simon Pagenaud and Sebastien Bourdais rounded out the first three rows.

On a layout that puts track position at a premium - especially with rain forecast for Saturday - there were several drivers left ruing what might have been.

Josef Newgarden was set to progress from the first qualifying segment when he clouted the wall and brought out the red flag with just 90s to go. That cost him his two fastest laps, and denied several of his rivals the chance to make what would have been their final run.

Prior to that, Tony Kanaan endured a lurid sideways slide down the back straight, and although he kept his Ganassi car off the wall, he was unable to muster the pace to progress from the first round.

STARTING GRID:

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m16.0941s -
2 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m16.1200s 0.0259s
3 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m16.4428s 0.3487s
4 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 1m16.5363s 0.4422s
5 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m16.6656s 0.5715s
6 Sebastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m17.0406s 0.9465s
7 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m16.9768s -
8 Stefano Coletti KV Racing Technology Dallara/Chevrolet 1m17.3638s -
9 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m17.3785s -
10 James Jakes Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 1m17.5158s -
11 Tristan Vautier Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1m17.8140s -
12 Sage Karam Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m17.9046s -
13 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 1m18.2239s -
14 Jack Hawksworth AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 1m18.7504s -
15 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m18.3144s -
16 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m19.3634s -
17 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m18.3303s -
18 Josef Newgarden CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m21.4632s -
19 Luca Filippi CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m18.4404s -
20 Carlos Munoz Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m21.4796s -
21 Conor Daly Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 1m18.4937s -
22 Rodolfo Gonzalez Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1m21.8208s -
23 Gabby Chaves Bryan Herta Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m19.2306s -


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