Alexander Rossi has continued streak of good running, grabbing pole at Road America for the eighth round of the IndyCar championship.
The 30-year-old recently announced a switch to Arrow McLaren SP from 2023, and has been making a habit of filling the top spots in his #27 Andretti Autosport Honda ever since.
Rossi lapped the 4.05-mile course in 1:44.8656, less than a tenth of a second ahead of the second place qualifier Josef Newgarden. His achievement also marks the eighth different pole winner in eight races so far this season, the longest such streak since 1961.
Interestingly, it seemed that there was little to no difference between the different tire compounds, with the top two splitting the strategies for their fastest laps.
Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson put in the third and fourth fastest laps respectively, and will make up an all Ganassi second row for Sunday’s race.
Colton Herta had the fifth fastest time in the final Fast 6 round, but was a bit disappointed with his effort after he put in the fastest time in the second round.
Pato O’Ward rounded out the third row with a lap of 1:45.6826, and he was unable to improve on account of a locked up front tire on his fast lap.
Light rain started in the middle of the second knockout qualifying round, providing a bit of chaos and urgency as drivers wanted to get their laps in before the rain picked up.
Real rain never quite arrived, however, and the entire field was able to comfortably stay on dry weather tires for the entirety of the afternoon.
Romain Grosjean started the second round a few minutes after everyone else as his team struggled to get his Andretti Autosport Honda into gear. He had time for one lap, but missed out on advancing to the Fast 6 by less than a tenth of a second.
Callum Ilott also had some issues in the second qualifying round, and ended up taking a trip through the gravel, followed by contact with the tire barrier, after pushing a bit too hard in the final corner.
It was not the first time the British driver had been off track during qualifying, but it was the final time as his Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy needed to be rescued from the gravel.
Drivers will have one final practice session Saturday afternoon before the main event, which takes place Sunday at 12:30 Eastern Time.
| # | Driver | Time | Avg. Speed (MPH) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexander Rossi | 01:44.8656 | 137.799 |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | 01:44.9371 | 137.705 |
| 3 | Alex Palou | 01:45.3822 | 137.124 |
| 4 | Marcus Ericsson | 01:45.4240 | 137.069 |
| 5 | Pato O’Ward | 01:45.6826 | 136.734 |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | 01:45.1543 | 137.421 |
| 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | 01:45.2307 | 137.321 |
| 8 | Scott McLaughlin | 01:45.2412 | 137.307 |
| 9 | Scott Dixon | 01:45.2446 | 137.303 |
| 10 | Simon Pagenaud | 01:45.2759 | 137.262 |
| 11 | Colton Herta (penalty) | 01:45.5388 | 136.92 |
| 12 | Callum Ilott | No Time | — |
| 13 | Christian Lundgaard | 01:45.4024 | 137.097 |
| 14 | David Malukas | 01:45.6017 | 136.839 |
| 15 | Will Power | 01:45.4227 | 137.071 |
| 16 | Helio Castroneves | 01:45.6217 | 136.813 |
| 17 | Rinus VeeKay | 01:45.5581 | 136.895 |
| 18 | Conor Daly | 01:45.7234 | 136.681 |
| 19 | Takuma Sato | 01:45.7045 | 136.706 |
| 20 | Jack Harvey | 01:45.9420 | 136.399 |
| 21 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 01:46.0785 | 136.224 |
| 22 | Graham Rahal | 01:45.9951 | 136.331 |
| 23 | Dalton Kellett | 01:46.9755 | 135.081 |
| 24 | Kyle Kirkwood | 01:46.6130 | 135.541 |
| 25 | Tatiana Calderon | 01:47.5661 | 134.34 |
| 26 | Jimmie Johnson | 01:47.3134 | 134.656 |
| 27 | Simona De Silvestro | 01:48.1033 | 133.672 |
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