IndyCar: Palou Earns the Pole at WeatherTech Raceway

Alex Palou claimed the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey pole with a lap time of 1m07.1465s. Palou earned his second pole of the season and fifth of his career.

“It was really tough, really tight all qualifying to get to the Fast 12 and then the Fast Six,” Palou said. “It was really tricky with track conditions. As soon as there was some wind, you couldn’t really finish the lap because there was no grip.

“Really happy. The car was on rails today, so the best starting position for tomorrow.”

Kyle Kirkwood will start on the front row next to Palou after turning a lap of 1m07.2204s.

Felix Rosenqvist will start third tomorrow after his fast lap time of 1m07.2917s.

Kirkwood’s Andretti Global teammate, Colton Herta, will start in Row 2 with a  lap of 1m07.2972s.

Alexander Rossi will start fifth after turning a lap of 1m07.3594s.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Christian Lundgaard will start sixth with his lap of 1m07.5112s.

Alex Palou

Alex Palou
Alex Palou              Photo courtesy of Penske Entertainment by James Black

This is Palou’s second pole of the season.  The first one at the Sonsio Grand Prix in May.

“Today was amazing. Car was really good. It’s been good all weekend. But it was really tough.  Like, if you see the gaps, even Q1, Fast 12, now Fast Six, it was tough. You had to nail everything.”

“So yeah, glad I did it. The car was on rails. It was one of my favorite places, and it’s becoming probably my favorite place.”

“It’s tough. Now with the grip we have, it’s super tough to get that last 10th or half a 10th of lap time. Then you have the wind that blows up some dirt on track. Maybe you go from understeer to huge oversteer.”

“Yeah, it’s tough to judge, tough to commit. But once you nail a lap, it feels super rewarding.”

Firestone GP of Monterey Qualifying Results

Rank

Car

Driver Name

Engine

Time

Speed

Session

1

10

Palou, Alex

Honda

01:07.1465

119.988

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

2

27

Kirkwood, Kyle

Honda

01:07.2204

119.856

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

3

60

Rosenqvist, Felix

Honda

01:07.2917

119.729

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

4

26

Herta, Colton

Honda

01:07.2972

119.720

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

5

7

Rossi, Alexander

Chevy

01:07.3594

119.609

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

6

45

Lundgaard, Christian

Honda

01:07.5112

119.340

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

7

3

McLaughlin, Scott

Chevy

01:07.3994

119.538

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

8

77

Grosjean, Romain

Chevy

01:07.4286

119.486

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

9

5

O’Ward, Pato

Chevy

01:07.4900

119.378

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

10

9

Dixon, Scott

Honda

01:07.5874

119.206

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

11

11

Armstrong, Marcus

Honda

01:07.6143

119.158

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

12

66

Malukas, David

Honda

01:07.8422

118.758

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

13

78

Canapino, Agustin

Chevy

01:07.8976

118.661

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

14

2

Newgarden, Josef

Chevy

01:07.7246

118.964

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

15

12

Power, Will

Chevy

01:08.0178

118.451

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

16

8

Lundqvist, Linus (R)

Honda

01:07.8056

118.822

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

17

14

Ferrucci, Santino

Chevy

01:08.0344

118.422

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

18

28

Ericsson, Marcus

Honda

01:07.9233

118.616

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

19

15

Rahal, Graham

Honda

01:08.0922

118.322

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

20

21

VeeKay, Rinus

Chevy

01:07.9897

118.500

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

21

20

Rasmussen, Christian (R)

Chevy

01:08.3711

117.839

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

22

4

Simpson, Kyffin (R)

Honda

01:08.1571

118.209

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

23

6

Siegel, Nolan (R)

Chevy

01:08.6785

117.312

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

24

30

Fittipaldi, Pietro

Honda

01:08.1824

118.165

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

25

41

Robb, Sting Ray

Chevy

01:09.1304

116.545

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

26

18

Harvey, Jack

Honda

01:08.4730

117.664

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

27

51

Ghiotto, Luca (R)

Honda

01:08.5078

117.604

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

(R) Rookie

 

 

Lucille Dust reporting live from Laguna Seca