Star New Zealander Scott Dixon has eclipsed the track record on his way to snaring pole for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
Promising to continue a rich vein of form at the sports car course, Dixon posted a 1:04.58s to pip reigning IndyCar Series champion Will Power by just .09s.
Power’s final effort saw the Penske gun fall just short after Dixon put in another sizzler to improve on his final run and give Ganassi another shot at continuing its blitz at the circuit.
Dixon has won five times at Mid-Ohio over the last eight years including last year after starting from last.
“It’s great that the Target car has a lot of speed, but as you saw last year with us winning from the last row that anything can happen,” Dixon said.
KV Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais will start the 90-lap race at the 13-turn circuit in third with Penske’s Helio Castroneves starting alongside.
Josef Newgarden and Charlie Kimball will occupy the third row as the Fast Six saw series leader Juan Montoya missing from the final part of qualifying.
Montoya, who has led from the outset in 2015 following his opening round win at St Petersburg, will be out of 10th.
Ryan Briscoe, subbing in the Schmidt Peterson Honda, is surrounded by rookies after qualifying a lowly 20th.
Meanwhile Graham Rahal, second in the points race, will start out of 13th position for the third last round of the IndyCar Series.
See below for full qualifying results
| Pos. | Car | Driver | Manufacturer | Time | Speed | Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chevrolet | 1:04.5814 | 125.869 | Firestone Fast Six |
| 2 | 1 | Will Power | Chevrolet | 1:04.6782 | 125.681 | Firestone Fast Six |
| 3 | 11 | Sebastien Bourdais | Chevrolet | 1:04.9965 | 125.065 | Firestone Fast Six |
| 4 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | Chevrolet | 1:05.0625 | 124.938 | Firestone Fast Six |
| 5 | 67 | Josef Newgarden | Chevrolet | 1:05.0728 | 124.919 | Firestone Fast Six |
| 6 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | Chevrolet | 1:05.0784 | 124.908 | Firestone Fast Six |
| 7 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Honda | 1:05.0455 | 124.971 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 8 | 10 | Tony Kanaan | Chevrolet | 1:05.0647 | 124.934 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 9 | 20 | Luca Filippi | Chevrolet | 1:05.1616 | 124.748 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 10 | 2 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chevrolet | 1:05.2081 | 124.659 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 11 | 41 | Jack Hawksworth | Honda | 1:05.2291 | 124.619 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 12 | 27 | Marco Andretti | Honda | 1:05.3931 | 124.307 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 13 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Honda | 1:05.9650 | 123.229 | Qual / Group 1 |
| 14 | 25 | Justin Wilson | Honda | 1:05.5886 | 123.936 | Qual / Group 2 |
| 15 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Chevrolet | 1:05.9877 | 123.187 | Qual / Group 1 |
| 16 | 14 | Takuma Sato | Honda | 1:05.5933 | 123.927 | Qual / Group 2 |
| 17 | 7 | James Jakes | Honda | 1:06.0671 | 123.039 | Qual / Group 1 |
| 18 | 4 | Stefano Coletti (R) | Chevrolet | 1:05.6204 | 123.876 | Qual / Group 2 |
| 19 | 8 | Sage Karam (R) | Chevrolet | 1:06.0688 | 123.035 | Qual / Group 1 |
| 20 | 5 | Ryan Briscoe | Honda | 1:05.7053 | 123.716 | Qual / Group 2 |
| 21 | 98 | Gabby Chaves (R) | Honda | 1:06.2195 | 122.755 | Qual / Group 1 |
| 22 | 18 | Rodolfo Gonzalez (R) | Honda | 1:05.9698 | 123.220 | Qual / Group 2 |
| 23 | 26 | Carlos Munoz | Honda | 1:06.9891 | 121.345 | Qual / Group 1 |
| 24 | 19 | Tristan Vautier | Honda | 1:06.0814 | 123.012 | Qual / Group 2 |
VIDEO: Dixon pole lap
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