In the past week, Mario Andretti He watched first-hand as Scott Dixon hunted down his IndyCar win total, moving to second all-time with 52 wins. Now, another ocean pilot threatens to do the same in terms of pole positions, where Andretti does hold the all-time record with 67 pole positions. In this case, the suitor is will powerwho signed a true exhibition of speed, experience and good work on the oval to win the two P1 of the Iowa IndyCar Weekendand increase his all-time pole total to 66.
As the penultimate driver to take to the track for second place overall, and the last of the Penske drivers to do so, Power went into the 178 miles per hour average that none of its competitors explored, with a first lap at 178.199 mph and a second lap at 178.013 mph. With this being the 19th double event that has been contested in IndyCar since the format was conceived in 2013 (including the two 2020 ovals that used the single-qualifying method), it is only the second time a driver gets both polesafter the case of Simon Pagenaud in Detroit 2016.
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Your partner Joseph Newgarden came closest in both cases, completing a Penske double to which Scott McLaughlin couldn’t come close, with a fifth and sixth place finish in his first qualy at Iowa. As expected, Conor Daly was a strong candidate for pole on one of his favorite tracks and his first lap held almost the entire classification in the lead, placing him third on the grid. The second was enough for a fourth place behind an impressive Colton Herthawhose first lap had been a disaster (he will start 17th today), to later record the best performance of the day by a Honda-powered car.
Although Friday’s free practice had shown good progress in race pace, Chip Ganassi Racing sank like a sugar cube in qualifyingwithout any of its four cars entering the top 10 of the two grids. Álex Palou saved the situation as best he could and placed 14th for today’s race with a lap of 175.230mph, just behind teammates Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon. Things improved a bit on lap two, with Ganassi’s best of the day at 176.122mph, but that was only good enough for 12th, as Ericsson dropped to 15th and Dixon to 18th, both trailing an accomplished Jimmie Johnson.
IOWA INDYCAR WEEKEND GRID – SATURDAY (250 LAPS)
Although with two direct rivals like his teammates Ericsson and Dixon in the same situation, the starting disadvantage with the Penske drivers will force Palou to work hard not to lose ground in the general. In fact, another potential opponent like Duck O’Ward He also had a good day, qualifying in fourth and eighth position. Dale Coyne Racing cars also performed wellas reflected by rookie David Malukas’ sixth place for Saturday’s race and veteran Takuma Sato’s fifth for Sunday’s race.
Being the ‘home event’ for its main sponsor, who has poured more than 10 million dollars into this event, Jack Harvey has chosen a good time to sign his best performance of a rather gray season to date, qualifying in seventh place for both races. His speed contrasted sharply with that of his two teammates, who failed to break into the top 15. Without being at the level of his partner Daly either, he managed Rinus VeeKay scratch two top 10s from the bottom; for his part, Felix Rosenqvist and Romain Grosjean alternated in tenth and eleventh position, with the Frenchman ahead in the first race and the Swede in the second.
In addition to Ganassi and some of those already mentioned, it is worth highlighting the dreadful classification of Alexander Rossiwho could only be 19th and 21st, even falling behind on his second lap a Kyle Kirkwood who performed miracles with Foyt’s car. It hasn’t been a brilliant day for Meyer Shank Racing either., with Simon Pagenaud’s 16th for the second race his only top 20, and with veteran Hélio Castroneves in the bottom three of both tables. A lot of variety and intriguing situations, which will begin to be resolved tonight at 10:05 p.m. Spanish time.
IOWA INDYCAR WEKEEND GRID – SUNDAY (300 LAPS)
The races will be broadcast on Saturday (10:00 p.m.) and Sunday (9:30 p.m.) on Movistar Deportes (dial 59), with comments from Raúl Benito and Cristóbal Rosaleny.
Photos: IndyCar Media