Qualifying: Power leaves it late to take pole at COTA
- Published on 23 Mar 2019 21:15
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Will Power made it two pole positions from two at the Circuit of the Americas, as he took pole position for tomorrow's IndyCar Classic.
The Australian bagged his 56th career pole, beating Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi to the top spot. Early on in the Fast Six session, it looked as though Colton Herta was on his way to his maiden pole.
The young American was looking to impress after missing out on the Fast Six in St. Petersburg following a penalty for impeding. Herta was pipped towards the end of the session and will line up in fourth place on Sunday.
Ryan Hunter-Reay will line-up alongside the 19-year-old on the second row. It was an all Chip Ganassi Racing third row, as Felix Rosenqvist once again got the better of reigning champion Scott Dixon.
| POS. | Driver | Team | Lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Will Power | Team Penske | 1:46.0177 | - |
| 2. | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 1:46.1761 | + 0.1584 |
| 3. | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 1:46.3228 | + 0.3051 |
| 4. | Colton Herta | Harding Steinbrenner Racing | 1:46.3594 | + 0.3417 |
| 5. | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:46.5680 | + 0.5503 |
| 6. | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:46.9375 | + 0.9198 |
Championship leader Josef Newgarden found himself being bumped from the top six, and he will start the race from seventh. Rookie Patricio O'Ward, who took part in his first qualifying session for Carlin, will start alongside him.
Zach Veach ended the session in eighth place, ahead of Graham Rahal. Santino Ferrucci gambled on the Firestone reds early on in the hope of a red flag but is the lead Dale Coyne Racing car after his teammate Sebastian Bourdais failed to progress from his group after getting caught out by a red flag.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 1:46.3438 | + 0.8896 |
| 8. | Patricio O'Ward | Carlin | 1:46.3807 | + 0.9265 |
| 9. | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 1:46.5421 | + 1.0879 |
| 10. | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1:46.9676 | + 1.5134 |
| 11. | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | 1:47.3956 | + 1.9414 |
| 12. | Matheus Leist | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 1:48.0634 | + 2.6092 |
There were a number of big name exits from the group qualifying sessions. As well as Bourdais, his compatriot Simon Pagenaud failed to progress into the top 12 shootout.
The two Schmidt Peterson cars of James Hinchcliffe and Marcus Ericsson were a part of different groups, but both failed to move beyond the group qualifying stage.
Jack Harvey and Tony Kanaan produced red flags in their respected groups with both going off at Turn 19, which hampered the final efforts of some of their rivals.
GROUP 1 DROPOUTS
| 7. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:46.8253 | + 0.6177 |
| 8. | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 1:46.8670 | + 0.6594 |
| 9. | Sébastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | 1:47.0702 | + 0.8626 |
| 10. | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1:48.4895 | + 2.2819 |
| 11. | Kyle Kaiser | Juncos Racing | 1:48.6343 | + 2.4267 |
| 12. | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | 1:49.1795 | + 2.9719 |
GROUP 2 DROPOUTS
| 7. | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
1:47.7109 | + 1.4116 |
| 8. | Marcus Ericsson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 1:48.4259 | + 2.1266 |
| 9. | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1:48.4523 | + 2.1530 |
| 10. | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | 1:48.6521 | + 2.3528 |
| 11. | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 1:48.9030 | + 2.6037 |
| 12. | Tony Kanaan | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 1:50.0743 | + 3.7750 |
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