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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