Will Power has secured pole position for the IndyCar Grand Prix on Indianapolis’ road course as Scott Dixon missed the cut in the first round of qualifying.
Power set a 1:09.8182s on slightly used red (alternate) tyres on his second run in the Firestone Fast Six.
Robert Wickens (#6 Schmidt Peterson Honda) had been fastest to that point and while he improved on his final effort, the Canadian’s best lap came up just short of that set by Power in the #12 Team Penske Chevrolet.
The pole is Power’s 51st in IndyCar, moving him to outright third-most prolific of all-time.
Sebastien Bourdais (#18 DCR w/ Vasser-Sullivan Honda) was third-fastest and will start alongside the other of the SPM cars, namely that of James Hinchcliffe (#5 Honda).
Rookie Jordan King (#20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet) qualified fifth, while defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden (#1 Team Penske Chevrolet) rounded out the Fast Six.
Of the other Penske drivers, Simon Pagenaud (#22 Chevrolet) just missed the final phase of qualifying in seventh and Helio Castroneves was 10th in his trademark #3 on his return to IndyCar.
Between them, Alexander Rossi (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) was eighth and Spencer Pigot (#21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet) made it past the first round of road course/street circuit qualifying for the first time in ninth.
Dixon, however, will start all the way back in 18th in the #9 Chip Ganassi Honda, three positions behind team-mate Ed Jones (#10 Honda).
The IndyCar Grand Prix (85 laps) starts tomorrow at 0540 AEST.
Highlights: Qualifying
Starting grid: Indianapolis (Road course)
| Pos | Num | Driver | C/E/T | Time | Session |
| 1 | 12 | Will Power | D/C/F | 1:09.8182 | Fast Six |
| 2 | 6 | Robert Wickens (R) | D/H/F | 1:09.9052 | Fast Six |
| 3 | 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | D/H/F | 1:09.9449 | Fast Six |
| 4 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | D/H/F | 1:10.0858 | Fast Six |
| 5 | 20 | Jordan King (R) | D/C/F | 1:10.1326 | Fast Six |
| 6 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | D/C/F | 1:10.7276 | Fast Six |
| 7 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | D/C/F | 1:10.0382 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 8 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | D/H/F | 1:10.1062 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 9 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | D/C/F | 1:10.1601 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 10 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | D/C/F | 1:10.1847 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 11 | 30 | Takuma Sato | D/H/F | 1:10.1979 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 12 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | D/C/F | 1:10.3592 | Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 13 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | D/H/F | 1:10.0985 | Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 14 | 98 | Marco Andretti | D/H/F | 1:10.1044 | Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 15 | 10 | Ed Jones | D/H/F | 1:10.2859 | Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 16 | 59 | Max Chilton | D/C/F | 1:10.2113 | Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 17 | 15 | Graham Rahal | D/H/F | 1:10.3605 | Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 18 | 9 | Scott Dixon | D/H/F | 1:10.3221 | Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 19 | 19 | Zachary Claman DeMelo (R) | D/H/F | 1:10.5064 | Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 20 | 26 | Zach Veach (R) | D/H/F | 1:10.3371 | Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 21 | 4 | Matheus Leist (R) | D/C/F | 1:10.6425 | Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 22 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | D/C/F | 1:10.5066 | Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 23 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | D/C/F | 1:10.7784 | Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 24 | 32 | Kyle Kaiser | D/C/F | 1:10.7394 | Round 1 / Group 2 |
(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)yre: F=Firestone
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