Sebastien Bourdais took advantage of being last car out to qualify on pole for Phoenix IndyCar Grand Prix.
Bourdais (#18 DCR w/ Vasser-Sullivan Honda) was faster than the rest of the field on both of his qualifying laps, edging Team Penske drivers Simon Pagenaud and Will Power.
Pagenaud’s (#22 Chevrolet) held top spot for some time having been the 11th car onto the circuit under the new oval qualifying system, in which the running order is set by entrant points.
Power (#12 Chevrolet) came up nearly 0.3s short of his team-mate but was provisionally a front row starter until St Petersburg winner Bourdais appeared.
Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) could only manage 17th.
The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix, to be run over 250 laps, starts tomorrow at 1135 AEST.
Highlights: Qualifying
Starting grid: Phoenix
| Pos | Num | Driver | C/E/T | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Total time |
| 1 | 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | D/H/F | 19.5034 | 19.5251 | 39.0285 |
| 2 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | D/C/F | 19.5728 | 19.5368 | 39.1096 |
| 3 | 12 | Will Power | D/C/F | 19.7129 | 19.6679 | 39.3808 |
| 4 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | D/H/F | 19.6845 | 19.7024 | 39.3869 |
| 5 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | D/H/F | 19.7807 | 19.8358 | 39.6165 |
| 6 | 6 | Robert Wickens (R) | D/H/F | 19.9323 | 19.7652 | 39.6975 |
| 7 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | D/C/F | 19.9128 | 19.8024 | 39.7152 |
| 8 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | D/H/F | 19.9739 | 19.8645 | 39.8384 |
| 9 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | D/C/F | 20.0181 | 19.8443 | 39.8624 |
| 10 | 19 | Pietro Fittipaldi (R) | D/H/F | 19.9545 | 19.9180 | 39.8725 |
| 11 | 10 | Ed Jones | D/H/F | 19.9185 | 20.0049 | 39.9234 |
| 12 | 15 | Graham Rahal | D/H/F | 20.0189 | 19.9899 | 40.0088 |
| 13 | 30 | Takuma Sato | D/H/F | 20.1675 | 20.0512 | 40.2187 |
| 14 | 32 | Kyle Kaiser (R) | D/C/F | 20.1490 | 20.0919 | 40.2409 |
| 15 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | D/C/F | 20.1656 | 20.2619 | 40.4275 |
| 16 | 4 | Matheus Leist (R) | D/C/F | 20.3264 | 20.1451 | 40.4715 |
| 17 | 9 | Scott Dixon | D/H/F | 20.3380 | 20.1364 | 40.4744 |
| 18 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | D/C/F | 20.3036 | 20.2959 | 40.5995 |
| 19 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | D/C/F | 20.4359 | 20.2336 | 40.6695 |
| 20 | 98 | Marco Andretti | D/H/F | 20.3702 | 20.4647 | 40.8349 |
| 21 | 59 | Max Chilton | D/C/F | 20.6604 | 20.5720 | 41.2324 |
| 22 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | D/C/F | 20.8841 | 20.5720 | 41.4561 |
| 23 | 26 | Zach Veach (R) | D/H/F | 20.6702 | 21.2023 | 41.8725 |
(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)ire: F=Firestone
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