Championship leader Simon Pagenaud has secured pole position for the Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio, after a record-breaking qualifying session around the Lexington road course where the lap record was smashed on multiple occasions.
The Frenchman will line-up for the 90-lap race alongside team-mate and 2014 champion Will Power, who ended Round 2 of the qualifying session fastest after breaking Scott Dixon’s previous lap record with a 1:04.0751.
The second row of the grid will feature Josef Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay, the latter ending qualifying as the highest Honda-powered driver for Andretti Autosport.
Former race winner at Mid-Ohio Charlie Kimball will start the race from fifth on the grid after a relatively competitive qualifying session, and will line-up alongside last year’s race winner and local hero Graham Rahal.
In a session which featured varying conditions, the times fluctuated up and down the order. After Round 2 of qualifying big names including Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya and reigning champion Scott Dixon were eliminated from proceedings.
Former winners at Mid-Ohio Castroneves and Montoya will start the race from seventh and eighth on the grid, with James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Aleshin rounding out the top ten for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Reigning champion Dixon could only manage 11th and will start alongside Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi. Although passing is notoriously difficult around the 2.258-mile road course, many will be keeping a firm eye on Dixon who has won at Mid-Ohio a record five times in his career.
British drivers Max Chilton and Jack Hawksworth were unable to progress out of the opening group during the early stages of qualifying and will therefore line-up 13th and 17th respectively on the grid.
Debutant RC Enerson enjoyed a respectable first qualifying session for Dale Coyne Racing, ending proceedings 18th and out-qualifying veterans Takuma Sato and Marco Andretti.
Andretti in particular suffered a torrid qualifying session for Andretti Autosport, finishing bottom of his group and ultimately qualifying 21st alongside rookie Conor Daly for the race. The 29-year-old has endured a difficult 2016 season so far and has only managed two top ten finishes at Detroit and Toronto.
