Pagenaud secures 500th pole for Penske at Iowa

Simon Pagenaud has recorded the 500th pole position for Team Penske ahead of the Iowa Corn 300 IndyCar Series race.

Pagenaud concluded his two-lap average with a 185.85 mph (299.85 km/h) effort to supply the team the landmark effort as the remarkable squad celebrates its 50th year.

The series leader Pagenaud realised the seventh pole of his IndyCar career in outstripping Ed Carpenter Racing gun Josef Newgarden.

Rebounding recently from fractures to his hand and shoulder, Newgarden was second fastest in 185.63 (298.75) while Pagenaud’s team-mate Helio Castroneves was third in 185.43 (298.42).

The pole on the short oval was Pagenaud’s fifth this year and only his second on an oval after topping the charts at the Fontana super speedway last year.

Pagenaud said it was important for him to convert the pole into a win and validate his form on an oval.

“The biggest statement we want to show is we are strong on ovals as well and want to win,” Pagenaud said.

“I’m super happy we can show some speed. We were fast at Indy as well, but a mechanical took us out of that.

“It is great to show so much strength. I’m the lucky one who got to win the 500th pole for Team Penske; a Frenchman and on an oval.”

Former F1 driver and Nissan LMP1 driver Max Chilton (Chip Ganassi Racing) produced his best qualifying in his rookie year and will start on the second row with a 185.41 (298.380.

Fellow Ganassi drivers Charlie Kimball and Tony Kanaan were fifth and sixth.

Ed Carpenter was seventh ahead of Team Penske’s 2014 series champion Will Power with Mikhail Aleshin (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) and Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) completing the top 10.

Aleshin was the sole Honda-powered driver to make the top 10.

His team-mate James Hinchcliffe was mysteriously down on power and will start from last position.

“It was definitely a less-than-ideal day at the office in the Arrow Electronics car,” Hinchcliffe said.

“We had some sort of issue in qualifying and I’m not entirely sure what caused it but for the gap in pace that we saw, there’s definitely a major issue.

“We’ll take a look at it and try to diagnose the problem. It’s just unfortunate to start from the back here, especially during a day race, and another bad pit selection for my home race in Toronto.”

See below for full qualifying results