Scott Dixon stormed to his second pole position of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season with a new lap record at Watkins Glen during qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
Dixon saw off a challenge from IndyCar drivers' title fighter Will Power late on in the Fast Six shootout to take pole, recording a fastest lap time of 1:22.5259.
Power was left to settle for second place for the start of the race, finishing four-hundredths of a second down, but was fortunate to qualify so highly after initially missing out on a place in the final stage of qualifying.
Penske driver Power had initially been eliminated in the second leg of qualifying after finishing seventh, only for Mikhail Aleshin to lose his two fastest laps for blocking Juan Pablo Montoya, handing the Australian a reprieve.
Power had originally been set to sit out the final session alongside championship leader and teammate Simon Pagenaud, who missed out on the Fast Six for the first time in 2016. The Frenchman will start seventh on Sunday.
Sebastien Bourdais qualified third for KVSH Racing ahead of Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan, while Max Chilton enjoyed his best qualifying run on a road course to date, finishing sixth.
