Scott Mclaughlin qualified second for tomorrow morning’s IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland, falling just 0.0330 seconds short off the pole-setting time of Graham Rahal in the Fast Six shootout. Colton Herta qualified third, one-tenth behind McLaughlin, while Scott Dixon was a further tenth behind in fourth.
Championship leader Alex Palou, who can claim the title this weekend unless Dixon scores 24 more points than him, keeps the last remaining contender close by from fifth on the grid, next to Patricio O’Ward.
All four Kiwis on the grid, Dixon, McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong and Tom Blomqvist, qualified out of Group 2 in the first stages at Portland International Raceway, with Palou’s 57.9671 topping the time sheets. McLaughlin progressed to the Fast 12 from second in the group, while Dixon was fourth.
Armstrong was seventh-fastest in the group and will start tomorrow’s race from 14th, his best lap just 0.07 seconds off that of Marcus Ericsson, who qualified from sixth. Blomqvist was also eliminated in 14th.
A red flag interrupted round two of qualifying just three minutes in when Josef Newgarden ran into the Turn 12 tyre barriers, ending his session.
McLaughlin went on to top the round with a best lap of 58.0777 seconds, 0.1561 seconds faster than Herta’s. Dixon was fourth quickest, one place ahead of title rival Palou.
That left just six, and it was Rahal who went on to set the fastest lap of the session with a 58.3195 on primary, black sidewall tyres. All other drivers would attempt to beat his time on reds. However, Rahal’s time stood as the one on top, giving his second pole of the season for the first time since 2009.
Tomorrow’s IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland begins at 7.00 a.m. and will be shown live on Sky Sport 5.
Header Image: Karl Zemlin/IndyCar (Supplied)
Go the Kiwi lads…Scotty Mac’s team was posting up graphics of local start times (and networks), for us here at NZ and Oz,
Could someone provide that for tomorrows race? Cheers