Alex Palou once again dominated qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, claiming the pole position for the Sonsio Grand Prix for the third straight year. The four-time and reigning IndyCar Series champion posted a blistering lap of 1m09.748s on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit, beating the field by more than half a second in a high-pressure session.
“It’s tough to get the car in good windows like these guys have been doing,” said Palou, praising his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda crew. “It’s a lot of work that everybody is putting behind at Chip Ganassi Racing. Very happy to be in that #10 on the pole once again here. It feels really good. The car was amazing. I think not everyone was running on new alternates, so I know we’re going to be in a small disadvantage on the race, but still, happy that we’re starting on the front row and see if we can win with the #10.”
Behind Palou, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward qualified second, 0.5475 seconds back. Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist took third, 0.7061s off the pace. Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren finished fourth, ahead of Team Penske’s David Malukas in fifth and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster in sixth.
The Fast Six session saw Rosenqvist first set a competitive time of 1m10.547s, but Palou quickly responded with a 1m10.011s lap. Malukas then posted a 1m10.566s on used softer alternates, while O’Ward moved to second with a 1m10.296s. Lundgaard and Foster rounded out the top six, with Foster notching his best qualifying of the season.
In the Round of 12, Palou produced a 1m09.780s lap with under a minute remaining, securing the top transfer spot. O’Ward and Lundgaard followed in second and third, with Rosenqvist, Foster, and Malukas also advancing. Graham Rahal missed the Fast Six by just 0.0521s, finishing seventh. Six-time champion Scott Dixon was eighth, while championship runner-up Kyle Kirkwood came ninth. Two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden was 10th, with Romain Grosjean 11th and rookie Caio Collet 12th.
Group qualifying saw Kyle Kirkwood lead the first group with a 1m10.2179s, followed by Scott Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal, Josef Newgarden, and Caio Collet. Alexander Rossi missed transfer by just 0.0011s. “It’s annoying that it wasn’t three amazing laps from my side,” Rossi said. “I’ve been struggling a lot getting the car where I need it.”
