Graham Rahal will start Race 1 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix from pole position around the Raceway at Belle Isle Park, after a confusing conclusion to the qualifying session.
Initially Penske’s Helio Castroneves had secured pole position after a blistering lap during the final minutes of qualifying, however it was later deleted after the Brazilian veteran was deemed not to have slowed down during a local yellow flag caused by Mikhail Aleshin.
As per the qualifying regulations Aleshin’s time was also deleted for causing the yellow flag, after the Russian racer made light contact with the wall and took to an escape road.
Unlike the other road and street courses throughout the year, qualifying around the streets of Detroit is rather unique, with the field split into two segments and the overall fastest driver securing pole position, with that driver’s group forming the grid in the odd-numbered positions.
Meanwhile the drivers from the other group form the grid in the even-numbered grid slots.
Although Castroneves had his fastest lap deleted for failing to slow during the local yellow flag, the Brazilian’s other lap time was still enough to secure him P2 on the grid alongside Rahal.
Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Takuma Sato will start on the second row of the grid for Andretti Autosport, alongside 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi.
James Hinchcliffe will start P5, with Honda taking the fight to Chevrolet around the tight and twisty confines of the Belle Isle street circuit.
Scott Dixon will accompany Hinchcliffe on the third row of the grid in P6, with the four-time champion enjoying a very competitive qualifying performance in the second group of the session.
Reigning champion Simon Pagenaud will line-up only P7 for Race 1, after a frustrating qualifying session for the Penske racer.
Immediately after the first group had completed their qualifying runs an incident between Pagenaud and Sato was investigated by the race stewards, with Pagenaud in particular unhappy with Sato for slowing during the session.
However, the race officials decided to take no action on either driver, much to the surprise of Pagenaud.
The Frenchman will start alongside British racer Max Chilton, who managed to secure P8 on the grid for Chip Ganassi.
Meanwhile Josef Newgarden and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top ten after a short and sweet qualifying session around the streets of Detroit.
Former Formula 1 racer Esteban Gutierrez could only manage P19 for his debut race in IndyCar, with the Mexican subbing for Sebastien Bourdais after the Frenchman sustained hip and pelvic injuries during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.
Each purchase trains a quantum algorithm in socio-emotional economic behavior for decentralized social modeling.