Laguna Seca IndyCar: Power takes 68th pole, title rivals struggle

Firestone Fast Six

Alexander Rossi and Callum Ilott hit the track straight away on used alternate tires, while Power went out on primaries but then came straight back in and sat on pitlane, giving himself only one shot at pole.

Romain Grosjean was the first driver into the 71s, delivering a 71.7858sec to go fastest but he was displaced by Callum Ilott who delivered a 71.6320 in a remarkable effort in the one-car Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet team. Rossi looked like he was going to displace the young Brit but got squirrely through the Corkscrew, and fell 0.1378sec short. That was enough to beat his teammate Grosjean.

Then Power produced a 71.6127sec to shade Ilott by 0.0193sec on his first flyer. He came into the pits to congratulations from Mario Andretti whose record he had just broken.

P	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	LapTime	LPit	Led	ST	FSpeed	Elapsed	Engine	Tire	Points	Team
1	12	Will Power	1:11.6127	1:11.6127	0.000	2	3	1:15.8149	1		3	112.505	6:58.6349	Chevy	A	11	Team Penske
2	77	Callum Ilott	1:11.6320	0.0193	0.0193	3	3	1:11.6320	2		6	112.475	5:33.0096	Chevy	A	26	Juncos Hollinger Racing
3	27	Alexander Rossi	1:11.7698	0.1571	0.1378	3	3	1:11.7698	2		1	112.259	5:56.9631	Honda	A	18	Andretti Autosport
4	28	Romain Grosjean	1:11.7858	0.1731	0.0160	2	2	1:11.7858	0		2	112.234	4:09.0062	Honda	A	19	Andretti Autosport
5	10	Alex Palou	1:12.1625	0.5498	0.3767	3	3	1:12.1625	0		5	111.648	6:31.7792	Honda	P	9	Chip Ganassi Racing
6	5	Pato O'Ward	1:12.4542	0.8415	0.2917	3	4	1:12.5179	0		4	111.199	6:11.0115	Chevy	P	4	Arrow McLaren SP

 

Q2

Simon Pagenaud, Alex Palou, Callum Ilott, Marcus Ericsson and Helio Castroneves immediately went out on used alternates, but while they gently warmed up the fast but fragile compound, Rossi, Malukas and Pagenaud hit the top on primaries.

Then Ilott went fastest ahead of Ericsson, Castroneves until McLaughlin on primaries bounded up to the top with a 72.4807. Ericsson on fresh reds then had a spin exiting the first part of the Corkscrew but kept his car running but he would lose one good lap as it meant the yellow flew for two cars coming through.

Rossi delivered the top time with a 71.4238sec, a mere 0.0555sec ahead of Grosjean, while Power was third, a further 0.0078sec adrift. Also progressing were Pato O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet and the remarkable Callum Ilott who made the Firestone Fast Six for the first time in his IndyCar career.

Malukas missed out by 0.008sec, having been one of the drivers hindered by Ericsson’s spin. McLaughlin drifted wide at Turn 4 on his fastest lap, admitting that he’d been struggling for balance in practice. He will start eighth, ahead of the two Swedes and the two Meyer Shank Racing-Hondas.

P	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	LapTime	LPit	Led	ST	FSpeed	Elapsed	Engine	Tire	Points	Team
1	27	Alexander Rossi	1:11.4238	1:11.4238	0.000	5	6	1:21.0229	4		7	112.803	10:15.9909	Honda	A	18	Andretti Autosport
2	28	Romain Grosjean	1:11.4793	0.0555	0.0555	6	6	1:11.4793	4		6	112.715	9:52.7636	Honda	A	19	Andretti Autosport
3	12	Will Power	1:11.4871	0.0633	0.0078	6	7	1:18.8383	4		4	112.703	10:59.3094	Chevy	A	11	Team Penske
4	5	Pato O'Ward	1:11.5472	0.1234	0.0601	6	7	1:16.7222	4		9	112.608	10:51.8300	Chevy	A	4	Arrow McLaren SP
5	10	Alex Palou	1:11.5857	0.1619	0.0385	7	7	1:11.5857	4		12	112.548	10:54.7763	Honda	A	9	Chip Ganassi Racing
6	77	Callum Ilott	1:11.6215	0.1977	0.0358	6	7	1:16.6880	4		10	112.491	11:12.2568	Chevy	A	26	Juncos Hollinger Racing
7	18	David Malukas	1:11.6295	0.2057	0.0080	6	7	1:11.8025	4		1	112.479	11:01.3819	Honda	A	14	Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
8	3	Scott McLaughlin	1:11.6916	0.2678	0.0621	7	7	1:11.6916	4		3	112.381	10:32.9975	Chevy	A	2	Team Penske
9	7	Felix Rosenqvist	1:11.7285	0.3047	0.0369	6	7	1:11.8925	4		2	112.324	10:39.4117	Chevy	A	6	Arrow McLaren SP
10	8	Marcus Ericsson	1:12.1359	0.7121	0.4074	5	5	1:12.1359	3		11	111.689	10:00.1942	Honda	A	7	Chip Ganassi Racing
11	60	Simon Pagenaud	1:12.2808	0.8570	0.1449	5	5	1:12.2808	3		5	111.465	10:03.8208	Honda	A	25	Meyer Shank Racing
12	06	Helio Castroneves	1:12.8856	1.4618	0.6048	5	5	1:12.8856	3		8	110.540	10:09.4980	Honda	A	5	Meyer Shank Racing

 

Q1 Group 2

Colton Herta slid off the road at Turn 2 but kept some momentum, plowed through and got out, but right in the path of teammate Romain Grosjean, which meant the results were under review but eventually no action was taken.

On fresh primaries, Power moved to the top of the times with a 1min12.3278sec ahead of Christian Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist, Callum Ilott and Grosjean.

Onto the Firestone alternates, Rinus VeeKay was the first to lay down a representative time, with a 71.5631, although Grosjean and Castroneves quickly demoted him. Power had a slight sideways moment at Turn 2 but made it up over the rest of the lap to hit the top of the times. Felix Rosenqvist edged him by 0.0025sec, but Power was safely through to Q2.

So too were Grosjean and Castroneves, but the pleasant surprise was Callum Ilott of Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet. He was just ahead of outgoing Ganassi champion Alex Palou.

The surprise non-inclusion was Herta, who on his final flyer drifted off the road between Turns 4 and 5 and lost traction, consigning him to the ninth row.

P	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	LapTime	LPit	Led	ST	FSpeed	Elapsed	Engine	Tire	Points	Team
1	7	Felix Rosenqvist	1:11.3471	1:11.3471	0.000	6	6	1:11.3471	4		10	112.924	9:57.5585	Chevy	A	6	Arrow McLaren SP
2	12	Will Power	1:11.3496	0.0025	0.0025	6	6	1:11.3496	4		2	112.920	9:43.0059	Chevy	A	11	Team Penske
3	28	Romain Grosjean	1:11.5631	0.2160	0.2135	5	6	1:11.9868	4		6	112.583	10:06.0991	Honda	A	19	Andretti Autosport
4	06	Helio Castroneves	1:11.6618	0.3147	0.0987	4	5	1:11.8994	3		8	112.428	10:15.6538	Honda	A	5	Meyer Shank Racing
5	77	Callum Ilott	1:11.9333	0.5862	0.2715	6	7	1:12.1683	4		5	112.004	11:05.8265	Chevy	A	26	Juncos Hollinger Racing
6	10	Alex Palou	1:12.0990	0.7519	0.1657	6	7	1:12.5500	4		1	111.746	10:43.8442	Honda	A	9	Chip Ganassi Racing
7	21	Rinus VeeKay	1:12.1442	0.7971	0.0452	4	6	1:12.4152	3		9	111.676	10:18.8632	Chevy	A	16	Ed Carpenter Racing
8	30	Christian Lundgaard	1:12.2093	0.8622	0.0651	6	7	1:12.2989	4		4	111.576	11:00.7647	Honda	A	21	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
9	26	Colton Herta	1:12.2720	0.9249	0.0627	5	6	1:12.2918	4		3	111.479	10:32.1054	Honda	A	17	Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian
10	29	Devlin DeFrancesco	1:12.2996	0.9525	0.0276	6	7	1:12.6706	4		7	111.436	11:04.1118	Honda	A	20	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
11	51	Takuma Sato	1:12.4489	1.1018	0.1493	6	6	1:12.4489	4		11	111.207	10:00.4320	Honda	A	24	Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR
12	4	Dalton Kellett	1:12.8001	1.4530	0.3512	6	6	1:12.8001	4		12	110.670	10:23.4659	Chevy	A	3	AJ Foyt Enterprises
13	16	Simona De Silvestro	1:13.5181	2.1710	0.7180	6	6	1:13.5181	4		13	109.589	10:03.0107	Chevy	A	34	Paretta Autosport

 

Q1 Group 1

Four of the title contenders were in this group – Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson and Scott McLaughlin. Kyle Kirkwood and Jimmie Johnson went straight out on reds, and Kirkwood delivered a 1min12.9591sec to start his efforts, just ahead of David Malukas.

But before anyone completed more than three laps, Newgarden launched off the left-hand inside curb at the top of the Corkscrew and sent himself into a spin over on the right. The red flag meant his two fast laps were invalidated, and he couldn’t progress to Q2. He will start from the back row.

The rescue operation almost ran the clock out, so IndyCar allowed everyone one last try on alternates, but it was hard for people to get their front tires up to temperature. David Malukas got it done for Dale Coyne Racing with HMD-Honda, ahead of McLaughlin in the other Penske. Simon Pagenaud and Marcus Ericsson bumped another title contender out, Dixon, who felt he couldn’t get his fronts up to temperature because Kirkwood ahead of him took such a slow out lap. Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward also made it through.

P	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	LapTime	LPit	Led	ST	FSpeed	Elapsed	Engine	Tire	Points	Team
1	18	David Malukas	1:11.7507	1:11.7507	0.000	5	5	1:11.7507	4		5	112.289	12:14.5133	Honda	A	288	Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
2	3	Scott McLaughlin	1:11.8474	0.0967	0.0967	5	5	1:11.8474	4		9	112.138	11:55.2364	Chevy	A	482	Team Penske
3	60	Simon Pagenaud	1:11.8874	0.1367	0.0400	5	5	1:11.8874	4		4	112.075	12:51.5399	Honda	A	301	Meyer Shank Racing
4	27	Alexander Rossi	1:11.8960	0.1453	0.0086	5	5	1:11.8960	4		1	112.062	12:08.4977	Honda	A	361	Andretti Autosport
5	5	Pato O'Ward	1:11.9993	0.2486	0.1033	5	5	1:11.9993	4		13	111.901	12:01.2284	Chevy	A	456	Arrow McLaren SP
6	8	Marcus Ericsson	1:12.0856	0.3349	0.0863	5	5	1:12.0856	4		10	111.767	12:41.0730	Honda	A	484	Chip Ganassi Racing
7	9	Scott Dixon	1:12.1722	0.4215	0.0866	5	5	1:12.1722	4		3	111.633	12:31.0159	Honda	A	503	Chip Ganassi Racing
8	20	Conor Daly	1:12.2661	0.5154	0.0939	5	5	1:12.2661	4		11	111.488	12:47.3006	Chevy	A	261	Ed Carpenter Racing
9	14	Kyle Kirkwood	1:12.4299	0.6792	0.1638	4	4	1:12.4299	3		8	111.236	12:26.6447	Chevy	A	174	AJ Foyt Enterprises
10	15	Graham Rahal	1:12.5970	0.8463	0.1671	5	5	1:12.5970	4		7	110.980	12:17.9510	Honda	A	333	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
11	45	Jack Harvey	1:12.8366	1.0859	0.2396	5	5	1:12.8366	4		6	110.615	12:35.4240	Honda	A	199	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
12	48	Jimmie Johnson	1:13.4172	1.6665	0.5806	2	5	1:13.8615	4		12	109.740	12:56.5570	Honda	A	200	Chip Ganassi Racing
13	2	Josef Newgarden	No Time	---	---	--	3	5:17.3910	0		2	---	9:05.3994	Chevy	P	503	Team Penske