Taking a chance on a second hot lap on Firestone reds, Marco Andretti pulls off an improbable pole lap to lead the field to the green in this afternoon’s Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 1.
If practice was any indication, it was always going to be a Honda on the pole as seven of the top 11 times set in practice were by teams running Honda engines, with Ryan Hunter-Reay the fastest of them.
Hunter-Reay appeared to be slowed by Robert Wickens, yet still held on for a pole lap. As quickly as Andretti stole pole position away from his teammate, Wickens would post his own fastest lap and appear to have the session wrapped up.
Andretti, determined to improve upon his fast but incident marred practice pace, put one last desperate lap in for his first street course P1 Award.
"I knew we just had to execute,” Andretti told the IndyCar broadcast after the session. “Yesterday we had the pace, and I clipped the wall… I've wanted a street course pole for a while, I’ve been outside pole so many times."
The prime starting position was stolen away from Scott Dixon in group one, whose season appears to be on an upturn following back to back podiums in the IndyCar Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500.
With the turnaround for this afternoon’s race lasting only a few hours, the drivers will now have to turn their attention to the race without hesitation.
"Now, I'm immediately switching my brain to this race,” Andretti said upon accepting his P1 Award. “A win has been eluding me, so that's what we're going for today.”
The Verizon IndyCar Series takes to the streets of Detroit for the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 1 this afternoon at 3:40pm ET. Their race on the bumpy street course will follow the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle Park.
