Typically, the quickest qualifying times are set late in the session as the track improves and more rubber is laid down. However, van Gisbergen noted that the best times in practice at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez were set early.
During the second practice session on Friday (local time), the best times were all set inside the first four laps. No driver inside the top 10 improved beyond their fourth lap.
He validated his own thoughts with a run late in the session that set him up for qualifying, opting to set a lap early in the 45-minute session.
“I think I was put off,” said van Gisbergen in reference to comments he made about his car set-up struggles after practice.
“This rubber is weird. This tyre, it hates itself, essentially. The track gets worse as you run and we tried some mock runs at the end of practice yesterday when the track was at its most rubbered-up and the car didn’t feel very good at all.
“We saw all the fast times were at the start of the session. That confused us and we didn’t really know where we were at. I felt really good in some parts of practice, but new tyres we went a big backwards step. I think we did a good job hitting the balance for the track conditions.”
It’s van Gisbergen’s second NASCAR Cup Series pole position in 30 starts, who last took pole position at the Charlotte ROVAL a year ago.
Van Gisbergen’s time, a 1:32.776s, put him just 0.064s clear of Ryan Preece in the #60 RFK Racing Ford Mustang.
The #88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro driver said he had potential to go quicker had he stitched his two laps together.
“It was a great session for us. I kind of lacked in a lot of areas yesterday with our car getting the balance that we wanted,” van Gisbergen explained.
“Went through a lot of changes last night and a couple that I thought were maybe too much.
“I started my lap and the car felt magic, right from the start. I didn’t execute my two laps very well. If I put them both together it would have been really quick, but it was enough.
“The guys and girls have done a great job tuning it up and getting it better. It means a lot.
“The first corner, one-two-three complex, is going to be a lot action tomorrow. We definitely wanted to be in the first few rows to minimise the incident risk.
“Being on pole is the perfect spot. It’s so good.”
Van Gisbergen said winning pole position was a much-needed reward for his Trackhouse Racing team after its recent struggles and the slogto even get to Mexico City.
Van Gisbergen was among a throng of crew members delayed by travel dramas.
“It’s been a pretty crazy week travel-wise,” he said.
“Our engineers only arrived this morning, 20 minutes before qualifying with the late arrivals. It’s been a crazy week for our guys.
“To reward them with a pole is really cool and hopefully we can do the same and do something special tomorrow.
“Obviously you want to start at the front and getting to be the fastest car is a pretty special thing.
“You always want to start at the front and say you’ve got the quickest car but these NASCAR races… tomorrow will be a journey.
“It won’t just be pole and lead all day, it’ll be action all day, the strategies, the way you have to flip the stages. The road course strategies are not simple.
“Tomorrow there’ll be a lot of work behind the scenes to try and get it right. We’ll hopefully be up the front at the end.”
The Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez gets underway on Monday at 5am AEST.
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