IndyCar Laguna Seca: Palou edges Kirkwood to pole by 0.073s

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou stormed to pole after a dramatic qualifying session for the IndyCar Series at Laguna Seca.

The Spaniard delivered a 1m07.1465s flying lap to earn the top spot for Sunday’s race on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn natural terrain road course. It is the fifth pole of Palou’s career.

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood took second by 0.0739s, with Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist continuing his strong run of qualifying performances this season in third.

Fast Six qualifying

Kirkwood set the early tone with a 1m07.7047s flying lap, ahead of Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi, who was 0.1930s behind.

All six drivers were swapping between used sets of softer alternate tires, having gone through them in the push to advance into the pole fight.

Colton Herta, who led second practice, handed out a strong response with a 1m07.2972s lap to go to the top in his No. 26 Andretti Global Honda, but it was a temporary advantage as Palou dished out a 1m07.1465s flyer to snatch pole.

“It was really tough, really tight qualifying to get to the fast 12 and then into the Fast Six,” said Palou, the two-time and reigning IndyCar Series champion.

“It was really tricky with the track conditions. As soon as there was some wind, you couldn’t really finish the lap because there was no grip. But really happy.”

Kirkwood then fought back with a 1m07.2204s lap to climb to second, with Rosenqvist quietly progressing to third.

Herta was fourth, ahead of the Chevy-powered Rossi and the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Christian Lundgaard was sixth.


Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	A. Palou Chip Ganassi Racing	10	5	1'07.1465		119.988
2	K. Kirkwood Andretti Global	27	4	+0.0739 1'07.2204	0.0739	119.856
3	F. Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing	60	4	+0.1452 1'07.2917	0.0713	119.729
4	C. Herta Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian	26	4	+0.1507 1'07.2972	0.0055	119.720
5	A. Rossi Arrow McLaren	7	4	+0.2129 1'07.3594	0.0622	119.609
6	C. Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	45	5	+0.3647 1'07.5112	0.1518	119.340
View full results

Top 12 qualifying

With less than two minutes to go, Romain Grosjean went to the top with a lap of 1m07.5116s in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.

Palou’s 1m07.2786s dethroned Grosjean, who dropped dramatically down the running order and out of the top six as Kirkwood, Herta, Rosenqvist, Lundgaard and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin all went quicker.

Rossi handed out some last-gasp heroics to jump into fifth, dropping Lundgaard to sixth and knocking out McLaughlin from transferring on by a narrow 0.0269s.

“It’s tight,” McLaughlin said. “I had a little slide through one of the quick corners, Turn 6, running around the back there and when you lose that momentum down the hill it really hurts you.”

Grosjean attempted to fight back, but still fell short in eighth.

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward reported a vibration early in segment while on the harder primary tires before switching to the softer alternate compound but couldn’t benefit from it and was left in ninth.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon took 10th, ahead of team-mate Marcus Armstrong.

David Malukas, making his first start of the season and also with new team Meyer Shank Racing, took 12th.


Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	A. Palou Chip Ganassi Racing	10	8	1'07.2572		119.791
2	K. Kirkwood Andretti Global	27	6	+0.0269 1'07.2841	0.0269	119.743
3	C. Herta Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian	26	7	+0.0578 1'07.3150	0.0309	119.688
4	F. Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing	60	6	+0.0585 1'07.3157	0.0007	119.687
5	A. Rossi Arrow McLaren	7	8	+0.1066 1'07.3638	0.0481	119.601
6	C. Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	45	8	+0.1153 1'07.3725	0.0087	119.586
7	S. McLaughlin Team Penske	3	8	+0.1422 1'07.3994	0.0269	119.538
8	R. Grosjean Juncos Hollinger Racing	77	6	+0.1714 1'07.4286	0.0292	119.486
9	P. O'Ward Arrow McLaren	5	7	+0.2328 1'07.4900	0.0614	119.378
10	S. Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing	9	8	+0.3302 1'07.5874	0.0974	119.206
11	M. Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing	11	8	+0.3571 1'07.6143	0.0269	119.158
12	D. Malukas Meyer Shank Racing	66	6	+0.5850 1'07.8422	0.2279	118.758
View full results

Group Stage qualifying

In Group 1, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino delivered a stout 1m07.8976s lap to go to the top of the leaderboard with less than two minutes to go.

He was dethroned by Malukas, who was then moved off the top spot by Armstrong. Rossi produced 1m07.7175s to jump to the top in the final seconds, but was moved by Grosjean’s 1m07.6813s lap.

Grosjean, Rossi, Armstrong and Dixon advanced, along with McLaughlin and Malukas.

Canapino was the first driver on the outside of the transfer spot, falling just 0.0721s off Malukas. Team Penske’s Will Power ended up eighth, with AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci ninth and RLL’s Graham Rahal in 10th.

Rookie Christian Rasmussen, who crashed in second practice, was 11th in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Nolan Siegel, in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, took 12th, with AJ Foyt Racing’s Sting Ray Robb in 13th.


Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	R. Grosjean Juncos Hollinger Racing	77	7	1'07.6813		119.040
2	A. Rossi Arrow McLaren	7	8	+0.0362 1'07.7175	0.0362	118.977
3	M. Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing	11	8	+0.0395 1'07.7208	0.0033	118.971
4	S. Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing	9	8	+0.0483 1'07.7296	0.0088	118.955
5	S. McLaughlin Team Penske	3	8	+0.1118 1'07.7931	0.0635	118.844
6	D. Malukas Meyer Shank Racing	66	7	+0.1442 1'07.8255	0.0324	118.787
7	A. Canapino Juncos Hollinger Racing	78	7	+0.2163 1'07.8976	0.0721	118.661
8	W. Power Team Penske	12	8	+0.3365 1'08.0178	0.1202	118.451
9	S. Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises	14	7	+0.3531 1'08.0344	0.0166	118.422
10	G. Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15	7	+0.4109 1'08.0922	0.0578	118.322
11	C. Rasmussen Ed Carpenter Racing	20	7	+0.6898 1'08.3711	0.2789	117.839
12	N. Siegel Arrow McLaren	6	8	+0.9972 1'08.6785	0.3074	117.312
13	R. Robb A.J. Foyt Enterprises	41	7	+1.4491 1'09.1304	0.4519	116.545
View full results

In Group 2, Herta’s lap of 1m07.7151s set the tone and went to the top, but quickly gave way to Palou’s 1m07.2751s, which set the mark for the group.

Herta responded back with a 1m07.3090s lap, which was still 0.0339s behind in second.

Kirkwood, O’Ward and Rosenqvist also moved on, but Josef Newgarden’s hopes to transfer into the top 12 faded in the final seconds after Lundgaard delivered a lap that bumped him out by 0.1159s to take the final transfer position.

“I think it was just me today,” Newgarden explained. “I think our car was good, I just struggled to put it together. I’ll try to make it up tomorrow.”

Behind Newgarden’s No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet in seventh was Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist.

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson ended up a disappointed ninth, ahead of Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay in 10th and CGR rookie Kyffin Simpson in 11th.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Pietro Fittpipaldi was 12th, ahead of the Dale Coyne Racing duo of Jack Harvey and Luca Ghiotto.


Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	A. Palou Chip Ganassi Racing	10	8	1'07.2751		119.759
2	C. Herta Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian	26	7	+0.0339 1'07.3090	0.0339	119.699
3	K. Kirkwood Andretti Global	27	7	+0.0481 1'07.3232	0.0142	119.673
4	P. O'Ward Arrow McLaren	5	8	+0.1074 1'07.3825	0.0593	119.568
5	F. Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing	60	6	+0.1465 1'07.4216	0.0391	119.499
6	C. Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	45	8	+0.3336 1'07.6087	0.1871	119.168
7	J. Newgarden Team Penske	2	8	+0.4495 1'07.7246	0.1159	118.964
8	L. Lundqvist Chip Ganassi Racing	8	8	+0.5305 1'07.8056	0.0810	118.822
9	M. Ericsson Andretti Global	28	7	+0.6482 1'07.9233	0.1177	118.616
10	R. van Kalmthout Ed Carpenter Racing	21	8	+0.7146 1'07.9897	0.0664	118.500
11	K. Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing	4	8	+0.8820 1'08.1571	0.1674	118.209
12	P. Fittipaldi Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	30	7	+0.9073 1'08.1824	0.0253	118.165
13	J. Harvey Dale Coyne Racing	18	8	+1.1979 1'08.4730	0.2906	117.664
14	L. Ghiotto Dale Coyne Racing	51	8	+1.2327 1'08.5078	0.0348	117.604
View full results