Palou takes Indy GP pole, McLaughlin qualifies 13th

Palou will share the front row with fellow Honda-powered driver Christian Lundgaard, on a day when the Honda engines of their respective team-mates Marcus Armstrong and Graham Rahal failed in practice.

Will Power looked favourite for pole going into the Fast Six and was level-pegging with Palou on his final lap but a slide off Turn 11 put paid to his efforts.

He will start third, alongside Team Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden, with Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon rounding out the top six.

IndyCar Series leader Colton Herta will start all the way back on Row 12 of the grid in the #26 Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda.

Power kicked off the Fast Six with a 1:09.1636s with reds on the #12 Chevrolet, before changing over to the less used set of reds which he had left.

Lundgaard took over top spot with a 1:09.0921s in the final two minutes in the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, before Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou (#10 Honda) pipped him with a 1:09.0004s on his only red tyre run in the third segment of qualifying.

Lundgaard’s next effort was only a 1:09.2610s but Power was still on a hot lap.

The Queenslander pushed hard but to no avail, his final lap being a 1:09.4068s despite the slide, while Newgarden’s best in the #2 Chevrolet was a 1:09.2528s.

Both of those entries are without key personnel after Penske suspended four people in the wake of the push-to-pass scandal.

O’Ward (#5 McLaren Chevrolet) set a 1:09.3320s and Dixon (#9 CGR Honda) a 1:09.5270s.

Earlier, in Group 2, Power won out in a duel with Lundgaard when his final-lap 1:08.8194s trumped the Dane’s 1:08.8388s.

Dixon was last through in sixth, by the barest of margins after Rahal, Armstrong, and Alexander Rossi took turns in seventh.

Rossi (#7 McLaren Chevrolet) missed the top six by 0.0185s and will start seventh, from Armstrong (#11 Honda), Rahal (#15 Honda), Felix Rosenqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda), Pietro Fittipaldi (#30 RLL Honda), and Rinus VeeKay (#21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet).

Back in Round 1 of qualifying, McLaughlin fell at the first hurdle.

Power was quickest in Group 1 on a 1:08.7890s on reds while Penske team-mate McLaughlin was bumped to seventh when Fittipaldi set a 1:09.1330s just before the chequered flag.

That effort bumped McLaughlin to seventh and, although he improved his time on his final lap, it was only a 1:09.1378s and the New Zealander is thus left 13th on the starting grid in the #3 Chevrolet.

In Group 2, Rosenqvist set the pace but the big name to miss the cut was Herta, whose car ran out of fuel in the final minute while he sat 11th on the timing screen.

Saturday’s schedule is the Warm Up at 11:15 ET/Sunday 01:15 AEST, then the 85-lap Race from 15:30 ET/Sunday 05:30 AEST.

Results: Qualifying