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Alex Palou finds himself on pole for the Sonsio Grand Prix held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
This GP takes place on Saturday, May 11th, despite INDYCAR normally racing on Sundays. Due to Indy 500 practice and qualifying taking place next week, teams need an extra day to prep for the speedway car. With the race on Saturday, INDYCAR just wrapped up the first qualifying season for the Month of May.
Qualifying – Round 1
The first round of qualifying is split into two groups. The top six of each group advances to the second round.
The top six to advance in group 1 includes Will Power, Rinus Veekay, Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and Pietro Fittipaldi.
Drivers from group two, Felix Rosenqvist, Christian Lundgaard, Marcus Armstrong, Graham Rahal, Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, advanced to Round 2.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is the only team that advanced all of their drivers into Round 2. Rahal sat on pole in August of last year while Lundgaard received his first NTT Pole Winner Award last year here in May. Lundgaard also started on the front row along side Rahal in August. RLL has proven they are quick around the IMS course.
Round 2 & Fast Six
Despite all three RLL cars advancing to Round 2, it was Power, Lundgaard, Palou, O’Ward, Newgarden and Dixon that found themselves advancing to the Firestone Fast Six.
The timing stand was lighting up like a Christmas tree for the final half of the Firestone Fast Six. Power looked extremely promising but lost it on his final attempt to run for pole.
Alex Palou put on a phenomenal lap in order to solidify the P1 starting position. The first three rows for tomorrow’s Grand Prix: Palou and Lundgaard, Power and Newgarden, O’Ward and Dixon.
What To Watch For
Last May, Alex Palou led over 75% of the GP and won by 15 seconds. Palou is quick around this course, but he has some quick drivers behind him. As mentioned, Lundgaard is no stranger to starting this race on the front row, he is eager for his second win in the series. Will Power, starting directly behind Palou, has won here five times. Plus, Scott Dixon on the third row is the most recent winner of this race. Despite getting in a small pile up on lap one last August, the Iceman found his way to a stone cold win.
Let’s not forget the opportunity for overtakes on the first turn. Devlin De Francesco overtook four cars on the opening lap last year but going four wide into the first turn.
Tune in on Saturday, May 11th at 3:30PM EST to see if Alex Palou can convert an awarded pole into a win. All 27 drivers are looking for a hot start in the Month of May.