Simon Pagenaud sets record pace to take Barber IndyCar pole

From this weekend the concluding 'Fast Six' pole shootout has been reduced from 10 to six minutes, but with guaranteed green flag running for all six in a bid to promote a tense finale.

Team Penske driver Pagenaud pumped in a pole record of 1m06.7262s late in the session to claim the bonus point for pole, finishing 0.2159 seconds ahead of team-mate Will Power.

Barber's 2015 winner Josef Newgarden impressed in the Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet to claim third ahead of Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais.

Graham Rahal's Dallara-Honda was the only car powered by the Japanese engine supplier to make it into the Fast Six, but his time 0.9126s behind Pagenaud underlined the Honda's deficit.

Helio Castroneves attempted to save tyres when he elected to run one flying lap in the second session, but the Penske driver narrowly missed out on the Fast Six by just 0.0229s. The Penske driver will line up seventh for the race.

The Honda-powered AJ Foyt pair of Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth were unable to convert their promising practice pace into qualifying.

Luca Filippi, James Hinchcliffe and Rahal were the only three Dallara-Hondas to reach the second stage.

Juan Pablo Montoya was the big scalp in the first round of qualifying when he was unable to turn on the red Firestone tyres in group two, leaving him 0.3s slower than the challengers moving through to the second round.

The Colombian will start the race last.

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