IndyCar Laguna Seca: Herta takes pole, heads Andretti 1-2

Firestone Fast Six

Power ran an out lap on Firestone primary tires, while his rivals stayed in the pits on reds, given that this segment was only six minutes long. Power worked down to a 1min10.8sec lap on his third lap but that was invalidated because he went through yellow flags waving for Pato O’Ward spinning at the Corkscrew.

However, Herta had already shaded Power by 0.027sec to claim his second straight Laguna Seca pole with a 1min10.7994sec.

Power’s penalty bumped Alexander Rossi up to the front-row, while the Penske driver’s second fastest lap was good enough for third on the grid.

Behind him, championship leader Alex Palou landed fourth, a half second slower than Herta but half a second up on impressive Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda driver Oliver Askew.

Askew was promoted to fifth, as O’Ward lost his two fastest laps for causing the red flag.

P	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	LapTime	LPit	Led	ST	FSpeed	Elapsed	Engine	Tire	Points	Team
1	26	Colton Herta	1:10.7994	1:10.7994	0.000	3	3	1:10.7994	0		1	113.798	6:29.3376	Honda	A	16	Andretti Autosport
2	27	Alexander Rossi	1:10.9951	0.1957	0.1957	2	3	1:11.8787	0		5	113.484	6:43.6476	Honda	A	17	Andretti Autosport
3	12	Will Power	1:11.1317	0.3323	0.1366	2	3	1:10.8267	1		2	113.266	5:42.1027	Chevy	A	9	Team Penske
4	10	Alex Palou	1:11.3317	0.5323	0.2000	3	3	1:11.3317	0		3	112.948	6:38.9552	Honda	A	8	Chip Ganassi Racing
5	45	Oliver Askew	1:11.8937	1.0943	0.5620	3	3	1:11.8937	0		4	112.065	6:23.8892	Honda	A	34	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
6	5	Pato O'Ward	1:24.2715	13.4721	12.3778	2	2	1:24.2715	0		6	95.605	5:47.9880	Chevy	A	4	Arrow McLaren SP

Alex Palou locked his Ganassi-Honda’s left-front on the primaries at both Turn 11 and then Turn 2 on his next lap, while Pato O’Ward went off the track at Turn 2 in his Arrow McLaren SP-Chevy.

Meanwhile Askew on used reds went to the top of the times before switching to a fresh set, leaving him temporarily 0.45sec clear of the field. Then Simon Pagenaud landed a 1min11.6292, before the times started to tumble. At the last gasp, Colton Herta and Will Power jumped to the top of the times, albeit a quarter-second apart, and Palou finally delivered a tidy lap to go third, and Oliver Askew was a deeply impressive fourth. His Rahal Letterman Lanigan teammate Graham Rahal had a lurid spin exiting Turn 6 on his way up to the Corkscrew, and so failed to advance. Askew, who hurtled past the scene, had that lap invalidated but it turned out not to be his fastest one anyway.

That ensured Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward (hugely entertaining lap) got through, but Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon will start behind their points-leading teammate Palou, in seventh and eighth.

P	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	LapTime	LPit	Led	ST	FSpeed	Elapsed	Engine	Tire	Points	Team
1	26	Colton Herta	1:10.5847	1:10.5847	0.000	6	6	1:10.5847	4		1	114.144	10:27.0019	Honda	A	16	Andretti Autosport
2	12	Will Power	1:10.8333	0.2486	0.2486	6	6	1:10.8333	4		10	113.743	9:48.4966	Chevy	A	9	Team Penske
3	10	Alex Palou	1:10.8351	0.2504	0.0018	5	6	1:11.8556	3		12	113.740	10:17.0443	Honda	A	8	Chip Ganassi Racing
4	45	Oliver Askew	1:10.9117	0.3270	0.0766	6	6	1:10.9117	3		7	113.617	10:38.6999	Honda	A	34	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
5	27	Alexander Rossi	1:10.9169	0.3322	0.0052	5	6	1:11.1649	4		8	113.609	10:13.6455	Honda	A	17	Andretti Autosport
6	5	Pato O'Ward	1:11.0220	0.4373	0.1051	6	6	1:11.0220	3		3	113.441	10:06.0978	Chevy	A	4	Arrow McLaren SP
7	8	Marcus Ericsson	1:11.2581	0.6734	0.2361	6	7	1:14.7064	4		4	113.065	10:53.4969	Honda	A	6	Chip Ganassi Racing
8	9	Scott Dixon	1:11.2768	0.6921	0.0187	7	7	1:11.2768	4		6	113.035	10:44.9809	Honda	A	7	Chip Ganassi Racing
9	22	Simon Pagenaud	1:11.3067	0.7220	0.0299	7	7	1:11.3067	4		5	112.988	10:55.0213	Chevy	A	15	Team Penske
10	59	Max Chilton	1:11.3088	0.7241	0.0021	5	5	1:11.3088	2		9	112.985	10:11.6639	Chevy	A	23	Carlin
11	29	James Hinchcliffe	1:11.4567	0.8720	0.1479	5	6	1:11.5259	3		11	112.751	10:23.9475	Honda	A	19	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
12	15	Graham Rahal	1:12.4674	1.8827	1.0107	3	7	1:13.2762	4		2	111.178	10:49.0926	Honda	A	11	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Q1 Group 2

Helio Castroneves, Conor Daly, Callum Ilott and Dalton Kellett went out on Firestone’s softer alternates immediately, and that allowed Daly and Castroneves to hit the top of the times, with Ilott in fifth. With three minutes to go, everyone was on the ‘reds’ and Oliver Askew was the first driver to eclipse Daly’s top time, before Alex Palou went top despite a major moment through the Corkscrew. That allowed several other drivers to beat him, and in the end he only scraped through in sixth.

Oliver Askew covered himself in glory with a 1min11.0155sec lap to shade Alexander Rossi, while Carlin’s Max Chilton turned in a fine lap – as he did in Portland last week – to deliver third fastest, ahead of Will Power (Penske-Chevrolet), James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport).

After showing so well in practice, both Ed Jones and Scott McLaughlin would be justified in being unhappy to be excluded at Q1 stage – McLaughlin pitted thinking the team had called him in – while Daly could be pleased at outpacing Rinus VeeKay who shunted this morning.

Callum Ilott was 1.34sec off the pace in the Juncos Hollinger-Chevy, but only 0.8sec off transferring to Q2.

P	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	LapTime	LPit	Led	ST	FSpeed	Elapsed	Engine	Tire	Points	Team
1	45	Oliver Askew	1:11.0155	1:11.0155	0.000	7	7	1:11.0155	4		8	113.451	10:36.6679	Honda	A	34	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
2	27	Alexander Rossi	1:11.0691	0.0536	0.0536	5	6	1:14.3176	4		4	113.366	10:26.6952	Honda	A	17	Andretti Autosport
3	59	Max Chilton	1:11.1852	0.1697	0.1161	7	7	1:11.1852	4		9	113.181	10:41.5651	Chevy	A	23	Carlin
4	12	Will Power	1:11.2836	0.2681	0.0984	6	6	1:11.2836	4		3	113.025	9:49.2187	Chevy	A	9	Team Penske
5	29	James Hinchcliffe	1:11.3542	0.3387	0.0706	6	6	1:11.3542	3		7	112.913	10:49.2386	Honda	A	19	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
6	10	Alex Palou	1:11.4397	0.4242	0.0855	7	7	1:11.4397	4		2	112.778	10:18.2491	Honda	A	8	Chip Ganassi Racing
7	18	Ed Jones	1:11.4692	0.4537	0.0295	6	7	1:11.4785	4		5	112.731	10:33.1334	Honda	A	12	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan
8	3	Scott McLaughlin	1:11.5767	0.5612	0.1075	6	6	1:11.5767	4		1	112.562	9:42.1273	Chevy	A	2	Team Penske
9	20	Conor Daly	1:11.5921	0.5766	0.0154	6	7	1:11.6633	4		12	112.538	11:05.2772	Chevy	A	13	Ed Carpenter Racing
11	06	Helio Castroneves	1:11.8071	0.7916	0.2150	3	6	1:11.9421	4		11	112.201	10:47.4639	Honda	A	25	Meyer Shank Racing
11	06	Helio Castroneves	1:11.8071	0.7916	0.2150	3	6	1:11.9421	4		11	112.201	10:47.4639	Honda	A	25	Meyer Shank Racing
12	21	Rinus VeeKay	1:12.2843	1.2688	0.4772	6	6	1:12.2843	3		13	111.460	10:14.2604	Chevy	A	14	Ed Carpenter Racing
13	77	Callum Ilott	1:12.3558	1.3403	0.0715	6	6	1:12.3558	4		10	111.350	10:01.6187	Chevy	A	37	Juncos Hollinger Racing
14	4	Dalton Kellett	1:12.6055	1.5900	0.2497	6	6	1:12.6055	4		14	110.967	10:06.3685	Chevy	A	3	AJ Foyt Enterprises

Q1 Group 1

Romain Grosjean, Colton Herta and Josef Newgarden were the fastest drivers on the Firestone primary tires, Grosjean’s Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda lapping in 1min12.4561sec.

Then as the field switched to the softer Firestones, Herta ducked beneath the 70sec barrier with a 1min10.9020sec, chased by Graham Rahal, with Pato O’Ward third but almost 0.4sec adrift.

Marcus Ericsson was the fastest of the Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda drivers in fourth, ahead of Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske-Chevrolet) and Scott Dixon (Ganassi).

By infinitesimal margins, Grosjean, Felix Rosenqvist and title contender Newgarden fell short of advancing to Q2, while Jimmie Johnson was, impressively, only 1.3sec off top spot, and less than 0.8sec slower than Dixon!

P	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	LapTime	LPit	Led	ST	FSpeed	Elapsed	Engine	Tire	Points	Team
1	26	Colton Herta	1:10.9020	1:10.9020	0.000	5	5	1:10.9020	4		1	113.633	9:01.9228	Honda	A	348	Andretti Autosport
2	15	Graham Rahal	1:10.9915	0.0895	0.0895	7	7	1:10.9915	4		7	113.490	10:34.0403	Honda	A	342	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
3	5	Pato O'Ward	1:11.2992	0.3972	0.3077	6	7	1:13.9303	4		10	113.000	10:49.5415	Chevy	A	452	Arrow McLaren SP
4	8	Marcus Ericsson	1:11.3179	0.4159	0.0187	6	7	1:12.8368	4		6	112.970	10:53.3274	Honda	A	402	Chip Ganassi Racing
5	22	Simon Pagenaud	1:11.3775	0.4755	0.0596	6	7	1:12.2301	4		2	112.876	11:08.2749	Chevy	A	329	Team Penske
6	9	Scott Dixon	1:11.5276	0.6256	0.1501	6	7	1:11.8430	4		9	112.639	10:40.8065	Honda	A	428	Chip Ganassi Racing
7	51	Romain Grosjean	1:11.5303	0.6283	0.0027	7	7	1:11.5303	4		8	112.635	10:57.7363	Honda	A	230	Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR
8	7	Felix Rosenqvist	1:11.5446	0.6426	0.0143	6	6	1:11.5446	4		3	112.612	9:18.7634	Chevy	A	177	Arrow McLaren SP
9	2	Josef Newgarden	1:11.5503	0.6483	0.0057	7	7	1:11.5503	4		5	112.603	10:55.2942	Chevy	A	443	Team Penske
10	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	1:11.6721	0.7701	0.1218	6	6	1:11.6721	4		4	112.412	10:06.3001	Honda	A	230	Andretti Autosport
11	14	Sebastien Bourdais	1:11.9776	1.0756	0.3055	6	7	1:12.2058	4		11	111.935	11:03.8576	Chevy	A	218	AJ Foyt Enterprises
12	30	Takuma Sato	1:12.1443	1.2423	0.1667	7	7	1:12.1443	4		13	111.676	11:05.3334	Honda	A	297	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
13	48	Jimmie Johnson	1:12.2865	1.3845	0.1422	6	7	1:12.5536	3		12	111.456	11:00.2082	Honda	A	82	Chip Ganassi Racing