IndyCar: Pagenaud Wins Indy GP Pole, Sets Record
Simon Pagenaud’s dominance continued through the qualifying process for the 2016 Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. So far, the newest member of the Team Penske family has dominated the current Verizon IndyCar Series season. He set a new qualifying record for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. His Chevrolet was the fastest on Friday and he will look to pick up another win in Saturday’s race.
Pagenaud took the pole position after besting a Firestone Fast Six that was split between Chevrolet and Honda. The only representative in the Fast Six from Team Penske, Pagenaud led the Chevy contingent that included Chip Ganassi Racing’s Charlie Kimball and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Josef Newgarden. The Honda drivers who finally broke into the Fast Six were Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe, and A.J. Foyt Racing’s Jack Hawksworth.
After getting into the Firestone Fast Six, Pagenaud was untouchable. He set the pace and made it a battle for second place. Kimball won the second place sweepstakes with a fast lap that was two tenths of a second slower than Pagenaud. Honda drivers Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe took third and fourth while Newgarden and Hawksworth took fifth and sixth.
Throughout qualifying, one of the most intriguing stories was the re-emergence of the Honda teams. In the first few events of the current IndyCar season, it appeared that Chevrolet had Honda’s number. The Bow Tie dominated nearly every segment of each race weekend. Now, with the strong performances from Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and A.J. Foyt Racing, it may finally be time for Honda to punch back.
It could be argued that Honda’s resurgence began one race ago with Graham Rahal’s stirring performance at Barber Motorsports Park. But, today’s practice and qualifying speeds showed improvement for a number of Honda-powered teams. That could indicate a closing of the gap between the two manufacturers.
Along those same lines, another intriguing story to develop out of IndyCar’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis qualifying sessions is the struggles in the Andretti Autosport camp. After showing a few flashes of speed in practice, zero Andretti Autosport cars were able to break into the Firestone Fast Six. The qualifying session ended up being another in a series of dismal qualifying efforts for the team. They will likely be forced to go off strategy or making higher risk moves to have a successful race day.
Here is the full starting grid for the 2016 Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis:
- Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, Team Penske
- Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, Tresiba Chip Ganassi Racing
- Graham Rahal, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
- James Hinchcliffe, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
- Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing
- Jack Hawksworth, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing
- Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing
- Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, Team Penske
- Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, Target Chip Ganassi Racing
- Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, KV Racing Technology
- Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
- Will Power, Chevrolet, Team Penske
- Max Chilton, Chevrolet, Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing
- Alexander Rossi, Honda, Herta-Andretti Autosport
- Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, Team Penske
- Matt Brabham, Chevrolet, Pirtek Team Murray
- Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, Andretti Autosport
- JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing
- Carlos Munoz, Honda, Andretti Autosport
- Spencer Pigot, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
- Marco Andretti, Honda, Andretti Autosport
- Takuma Sato, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing
- Alex Tagliani, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing
- Conor Daly, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
- Gabby Chaves, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
Next: IndyCar Returns to Watkins Glen
The 2016 Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis is scheduled for Saturday, May 14th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. It is set to air on the ABC Network at 3:30 p.m. ET.