While it appeared since the first practice Andretti Global was a favorite for the pole position for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, Colton Herta ended the suspense about which one of the team’s drivers would end up on top.
Herta repeated as the NTT P1 Award winner for this race on the streets of downtown Detroit, earning his first pole of the season and 15th of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career with a best lap of 1 minute, .4779 of a second in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda during the Firestone Fast Six.
The pole came after a bit of a gamble in the final qualifying segment, as Herta was the only driver to start the session on used primary Firestone Firehawk tires before switching to a new set of the softer but grippier alternate tires early in the session. The other five drivers ran the entire Firestone Fast Six session on a combination of new and used Firestone Firehawk alternates.
Up next is the warm-up session at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday followed by the 100-lap race at 12:30 p.m. ET.
David Malukas continued his recent hot streak for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, following his runner-up finish in the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge last Sunday with a career best-tying second qualifying spot at 1:00.6492 in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet. That was Malukas’ best career qualifying performance on a road or street circuit, as his two previous second-place starts came on ovals.
Kyle Kirkwood continued the strong weekend for Andretti Global by qualifying third at 1:00.7312 in the No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda. Kirkwood led practice Friday, while Herta paced the practice session this morning on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile street circuit.
Christian Lundgaard will join Kirkwood in Row 2 after qualifying fourth at 1:00.8938 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Starting on the inside of Row 3 will be Graham Rahal, who qualified fifth at 1:01.0651 in the No. 15 JJ Curran Crane Company Honda. That strong effort continued Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s recent unlocking of more speed on circuits with left and right turns, as Rahal qualified second earlier this month for the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Series points leader Alex Palou rounded out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:01.4680 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou has won five of the first six races this season, including the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge last Sunday for his first career oval victory.
While sixth tied Palou’s second-worst qualifying performance this season, it was a solid recovery from the first two practices in which he ranked 15th and 12th, respectively. Palou leads second-place Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren by a staggering 112 points – more than two races’ worth – after just six of 17 races this season.
O’Ward failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying and will start 18th in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
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