O’Ward rockets to IndyCar opener at Barber

O’Ward rockets to IndyCar opener at Barber

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In the battle for the pole position at Barber Motorsports Park, three drivers from Chip Ganassi Racing and one each from Andretti Autosport, Arrow McLaren SP and Team Penske threw their cars around the beautiful 2.4-mile road, and as soon as the Firestone Fast Six was completed is. , Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP, lightning the group with his second career pole.

‘GOOOOOOO’, the 2018 Indy Lights champion shouted over the radio after taking first place with a lap of 1 million 05.8479 in the Chevy No. 5 concluded. The 24-year-old Mexican was indeed a headache for the others when he led the Fast Six and the Fast 12 sessions, and Andretti’s Alexander Rossi will join him on the front row in the no. 27 Honda (+ 0.0698s) be.

“Man, we made some changes after practice 2 and we worked so hard in the off-season,” O’Ward said. ‘I knew exactly what I needed to get time out of the [Firestone] red. We did that and we started on the pole. We have a race to win tomorrow. ‘

CG Pal’s Alex Palou led his trio third with the number 10 Honda (+ 0.2059s), Penske’s Will Power was fourth in the 12th Chevy (+ 0.2707s) and CGR’s Scott Dixon in the No. 9 Honda (+ 0.5497) s) and Marcus Ericsson in the No. 10 Honda (+ 0.5623s) rounded out the sextet.

Just outside the Fast Six, former Formula 1 driver and NTT IndyCar Series rookie Romain Grosjean all smiled after finishing seventh in Dale Coyne Racing No. 1. 51 with Rick Ware Racing Honda qualified. Even better for the Frenchman was the fact that he displaced two-time series champion Josef Newgarden, who started eighth.

“Had some traffic, but it does not really matter today,” he said. ‘I’m very proud that the boys were able to take me to P7. I just thought Josef Newgarden is one of the stars of the series and knows Barber very well. So, I think we can be very happy with that. I think we showed that the work we did in the test worked well. ”

AS IT HAPPENED

In the first ten-minute session, where half of the field went out and six moved forward in the Firestone Fast 12, the luck of the qualifying draw did not benefit Team Penske as all four of his cars were thrown into the same group. Marcus Ericsson, CGR, led the 12 riders in the first lap fastest laps, and as soon as the field plowed, recovered and went out for a final blast around Barber, teammate Alex Palou delivered a monster lap – only under 1m06s with a 1m05.9032s— to claim P1.

Behind Palou in the six that carried over were Willenske van Penske, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin – with an epic final lap – in a row, Ericsson, and Jack Harvey of Meyer Shank Racing. Those who did not transfer were in order Ed Jones, Simon Pagenaud, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato, Jimmie Johnson and Dalton Kellett.

In the second ten-minute session where the other half went out of the field and moved six forward in the Firestone Fast 12, it turned red in less than three minutes when James Hinchcliffe slipped across the grass and gravel at turn 5. the tire barrier. The no. 29 Andretti Honda was not damaged, but instead of firing the car again, the IndyCar safety team dragged it behind the barriers and left Hinchcliffe to sit and watch for the rest of the session.

Less than five minutes were left to chase a fast time, and in the final lap, Pato O’Ward at Turn 13 made a wild ride over the crest to knock Romain Grosjean off the P1 with a shot from 1 066 0696, just 0.0013 seconds ahead. of the DCRwRWR driver. Behind the two were Conor Daly and Alexander Rossi.

Moments after O’Ward crossed the line to go to P1, his teammate Felix Rosenqvist took a wild ride of his own under turn 15, which left his car stuck and trapped in the gravel.

In fifth place, Rosenqvist loses his two fastest laps, knocking him out of the transfer group, moving Scott Dixon from sixth to fifth, and Colton Herta from outside the group in seventh place to advance into the sixth. The six who did not go further were Rinus VeeKay, Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal, Max Chilton, Rosenqvist and Hinchcliffe.

In the first round of the Firestone Fast 12, where the top six would pass, Colton Herta put the best lap on Firestone’s primary tires at 1m06.4171s before the group installed the faster, red-band alternative tires. When the best laps started pouring in, Romain Grosjean took the P1 and dropped to P7 within a minute, missing the Firestone Fast Six by just 0.0690s.

The fastest with another lap was Pato O’Ward in the P1 with a 1m5.5019s. From second to sixth were Will Power, Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi.

Starting with Grosjean on the other side of the transfer line in P7, it was some disappointed riders in Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta in P8 and P9, and a trio of Conor Daly, Jack Harvey and Scott McLaughlin who completed the top 12 .

THESES

Fastest driver: Pato O’Ward, 1m05.8479s

Slowest driver: James Hinchcliffe, no time

Remarkable mentions:

  • Good day for Conor Daly who led the Ed Carpenter Racing team in P10. Comparatively quiet day for teammate Rinus VeeKay in the P14, who is also dealing with his finger injury from the recent Indy Open Test.
  • It’s a small win, but the Jimmie Johnson, who was 0.1008s faster than lifelong road racer Dalton Kellett in their qualifying group. This ensured that the rookie would not start last at his IndyCar debut, and with some of the other driver dramas in the ensuing laps, Johnson settled for 24 in the P21.
  • The tip of the hat for Jack Harvey, who drives for the Andretti-affiliated MSR team, was the third fastest in the group’s five cars.
  • These are three consecutive sessions where Pagenaud of Team Penske was last among The Captain’s four entries.
  • Rough first day for AMSP’s new husband Rosenqvist. If a solo FP1 accident in the pit lane was not enough to make a headache, it’s not the kind of thing to boost one’s self-confidence.
  • The dissatisfaction for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing stuck in every session on Saturday as Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato qualified for P18 and P19 respectively.
  • It’s not something that will leave Scott McLaughlin of Penske in love with himself, but qualifying in the P12 for his second IndyCar race was impressive.
  • Considering how tough the early rounds were for him in 2020, a start for Hunter-Reay in midfield is the opposite of what he wanted to open that year.
  • The AJ Foyt Racing team was extra fast in the pre-season Tests, but struggled on Saturday to find the pace with Sebastien Bourdais qualifying the P16.
  • Marcus Ericsson! His team was strong over his chances this year, and if his performances on Saturday mean anything, the Swede could be a factor.

Next: Warm Up, 11:30 ET, on Peacock

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