Texas IndyCar: Sato claims ninth career pole
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda’s Takuma Sato clinched his ninth career IndyCar pole for tomorrow night’s DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, resisting the challenge from defending race winner Scott Dixon.
The third oval pole of Sato’s career (following Iowa 2011 and Pocono 2017) and his second pole this season saw him lap in 220.433 and 220.067mph – the only driver to have both laps over 220.
He led a 1-2-3-4 for Honda, as Sebastien Bourdais was a fine third for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan, while Ryan Hunter-Reay was top Andretti Autosport driver with fourth.
Simon Pagenaud led the Chevrolet charge in fifth, with Spencer Pigot sixth for Ed Carpenter Racing.
Points leader Josef Newgarden was seventh in a second Penske, but the third Penske of Will Power was way down in 15th, while another title contender Alexander Rossi also struggled with only 11th fastest average.
They were both better off than Marco Andretti who had to come off the throttle and walk his car up the track on his second lap, resulting in a 196mph lap, while Tony Kanaan struck the wall on the exit of Turn 2 on his first flyer and abandoned his run.
The race starts at 7.40pm local (Central) time tomorrow.
Qualifying results:
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About this article
| Series | IndyCar |
| Event | Texas |
| Author | David Malsher-Lopez |
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