IndyCar championship leader Simon Pagenaud will start the Alabama round from pole position after nailing his second flying lap to post a 1m06.7262, two-tenths quicker than Penske's Will Power.
Three-time pole sitter Power made a crucial error on his first flying lap and could only shave a few hundredths off his time during his second run, which wasn't enough to lift him from second to pole.
Ed Carpenter's Josef Newgarden – last year's Barber winner – qualified in third ahead of the #9 Coca-Cola Ganassi car of Scott Dixon, whilst Sebastien Bourdais completed the top five, almost six-tenths adrift of Pagenaud's best.
With Chevrolet filling the top five positions, it was Graham Rahal who held up Honda's honour with the sixth quickest time on Saturday afternoon, albeit almost a second slower than the lead-Chevrolet.
Helio Castroneves was seventh ahead of James Hinchcliffe, Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball, to complete the grids top ten.
There were no real dramas during the session, though Juan Pablo Montoya's stuggles came as a surprise as he was slowest of the 21-car field, having struggled with the handling of his car throughout the session.
Discussion about this post