Lacklustre qualifying from Dixon as Power dominates for pole

Autosport

Reigning IndyCar champion Will Power will start his title defence from pole position after leading a Penske domination of qualifying in St Petersburg.

Power reset Sebastien Bourdais’ track record of 1m00.8344s from 2003 several times during the afternoon before sealing the top spot with a 1m00.6931s.

“I thought we had an extra lap but we left it a little late and got the chequered flag,” said Power. “But I’m stoked to get pole.”

New team-mate Simon Pagenaud pushed the Australian hard, and for a few fleeting moments stole the top spot late in the session before being pushed back to the outside of the front row for his Penske debut; his lap just 0.03 seconds down on Power’s.

“I’m super happy,” Pagenaud said. “It’s incredible to start this way with Team Penske. We have a lot of pace, the cars are fantastic. Today was a lot of fun.”

Completing the Penske rout were Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya, who finished up third and fourth respectively, giving team owner Roger Penske a complete lock on the first two rows. The four cars were covered by just 0.16s.

With neither Ganassi nor Andretti getting a car into the Fast Six, it was left to 2014 pole winner Takuma Sato and KV’s Bourdais to fill out the third row.

There was nothing between those two either – Foyt driver Sato’s advantage over the Frenchman was a mere 0.004s – but both were 0.4s down on the Penske quartet.

Ganassi had late hopes of getting Tony Kanaan into the run-off for pole when race control investigated whether the Brazilian had been on the receiving end of a block from Pagenaud during the second qualifying round, but no action was taken.

“It’s tough,” Kanaan said. “Look at how close qualifying is. Nobody blocks on purpose. Sometimes you’re trying to get a gap, sometimes you’re trying to cool your tyres.

“We missed out by half a tenth, and I think it’s going to be exciting tomorrow. Sometimes it happens to you, sometimes you do it to other people.”

Follow the 2015 IndyCar season-opener as it happens with AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from 8pm UK time on Sunday March 29

STARTING GRID:

PosDriverTeamCarTimeGap
1Will PowerTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet1m00.6931s
2Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet1m00.7252s0.0321s
3Helio CastronevesTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet1m00.8356s0.1425s
4Juan Pablo MontoyaTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet1m00.8532s0.1601s
5Takuma SatoAJ Foyt EnterprisesDallara/Honda1m01.1496s0.4565s
6Sebastien BourdaisKVSH RacingDallara/Chevrolet1m01.1545s0.4614s
7Tony KanaanChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet1m01.1182s
8Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda1m01.1670s
9Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet1m01.2285s
10Josef NewgardenCFH RacingDallara/Chevrolet1m01.2478s
11Simona de SilvestroAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda1m01.3657s
12Marco AndrettiAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda1m01.4765s
13Charlie KimballChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet1m01.5727s
14Carlos MunozAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda1m01.4890s
15Graham RahalRahal Letterman LaniganDallara/Honda1m01.5742s
16James HinchcliffeSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsDallara/Honda1m01.5780s
17Stefano ColettiKV Racing TechnologyDallara/Chevrolet1m01.6727s
18Sage KaramChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet1m01.8011s
19Luca FilippiCFH RacingDallara/Chevrolet1m01.6736s
20James JakesSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsDallara/Honda1m01.8323s
21Jack HawksworthAJ Foyt EnterprisesDallara/Honda1m02.0095s
22Gabby ChavesBryan Herta AutosportDallara/Honda1m01.9705s
23Francesco DraconeDale Coyne RacingDallara/Honda1m04.2654s
24Carlos HuertasDale Coyne RacingDallara/Honda1m01.9716s

Lacklustre qualifying from Dixon as Power dominates for pole

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