For one reason or another, and with the permission of McLaren SP, the three big teams of the IndyCar Series were surprised for the performance of two formations from the middle of the table. When the final phase of the classification of the Detroit Grand Prix, the eight drivers who accumulate Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing had to watch the bulls from the sidelines. In the trident of Team Penske he had only slipped Joseph Newgarden, by the hair. But when it comes to taking advantage of the used softs, few have the ability of the American, who only needed to lead at the end to top the grid.
The 2017 and 2019 champion, one of only seven drivers who knows what it’s like to win at Belle Isle, was the last driver to finish his flying lap in Fast 6, having failed to shine much in previous stages. In a lap at the limit of the grip, with several corrections in the slow zones, a 1m15.215s put Newgarden first by a tenth of a margin, giving him the 16th pole of his career and the 11th on a road circuit. In turn, he became seventh different poleman in the first seven racessomething that already happened in 2018, but that equals the best record of the last 60 years.
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Already counting 45 years on his identity card, Takuma Sato has returned to give war in the classification of a router. The Japanese had been since the end of 2019 without getting out of the top 10 in this field, a total of 26 races. Today he broke the streak in a big way with an excellent session in which he put the Dale Coyne Racing car on the front row against all odds and expectations. To do this, he beat two other veterans hardened in a thousand battles as Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves, continuing an excellent weekend for Meyer Shank Racing. The Brazilian, in fact, led the first group, and will seek to say goodbye with a victory in the circuit in which he won the first 22 years ago.
The Mexican Duck O’Ward threatened to continue his fight for the championship from pole, setting the fastest time of the weekend (1:14.668) in the Fast 12, but his used softs didn’t work out so well and he finished fifth, just ahead of a David Malukas who was the great sensation of the session. The American rookie, who had already set a good time in free practice, surprisingly led the second qualifying group and entered his first Fast 6 with the second fastest time. Unfortunately for him, his inexperience with used soft he played a trick on him, and a mistake cost him his best turn.
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For costly mistake, that of Romain Grosjean, who crashed his car hard into the wall of the last corner after doubling a suspension in the previous turn. His accident cost Colton Herta the possibility of accessing the Fast 6 and, especially, a very fast alexander rossi who was left out of the top 10. In turn, the traffic in the laps did not play in favor of Scott Dixon, who could only be ninth. Thus, Marcus Ericsson will start his first race after winning the Indy 500 as the best car on the Ganassi grid in eighth place, ten places ahead of Alex Palou.
The strange sensations of the free practice ended up being confirmed for the Spaniard in his qualifying group, where the laps did not finish, with some other error that was even about to cost him a penalty for hindering the also eliminated Will Power. With a best time of 1:15.612, Palou could only be ninth in his group and will have to start from 18th positionin a slightly shorter race than normal where extending the life of the first set of tires will be key to trying to go to two stops.
Suffering from discomfort in one of his hands after his accident in free practice, Kyle Kirkwood could not endorse his great pace in free practice with anything better than the 15th place he will occupy tomorrow, and the Rahal team suffered again without placing any of its three machines above 19th place, all of them behind the Juncos driven by the substitute Santino Ferrucci. The height of the disaster was for the last row: a communication error when leaving the pits cost Felix Rosenqvist a penalty for impeding, and a Dalton Kellett with an outstanding penalty was unable to take the track after destroying his car in free practice.
2022 INDYCAR DETROIT GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING
The race will be broadcast on Sunday on Movistar Deportes 1 from 9:35 p.m. (Spanish time) and on Movistar Deportes at the conclusion of the Diamond League event.
Photos: IndyCar Media