Lundgaard secures pole position, ending Palou's streak

Arrow McLaren secures a front-row position for the second year at the Indy 500 at Mid-Ohio, this time with pole position also going to the team as Christian Lundgaard qualifies fastest. Pato O’Ward starts in second, with Will Power in third.

Credits: Dominic Loyer

Round 1 Group 1

With three and a half minutes left, Rinus VeeKay topped the group, while Christian Rasmussen and David Malukas followed. 

Romain Grosjean fell frustrated as Scott Dixon blocked him twice while on a fast lap. While Dixon served an interference penalty, it kept him and Grosjean from advancing to Round 2. 

With a strong car, Kyle Kirkwood set the fastest lap at the checkered flag with a time of 1:04.893s, along with Rasmussen and Pato O’Ward with the quickest times in the 1:05s. Malukas, VeeKay, and hometown driver Graham Rahal round up the top six from Group 1 who advance. 

Alongside Grosjean and Dixon, Louis Foster, Scott McLaughlin, Nolan Siegel, and Felix Rosenqvist will all start towards the back of the grid. 

Round 1 Group 2

Group 2 placed Championship leader Alex Palou, along with Road America winner Christian Lundgaard, on track. Palou, going for his sixth straight pole, gave himself enough of a gap, and on one lap, Palou closely matched Kirkwood's lap at 1:04:865s. Lundgaard slotted into second, putting down a lap time of 1:04:915s.

Sting Ray Robb and Mick Schumacher were close to making it into the top six of the group; however, they were not able to find the time to do so. 

Will Power and Marcus Ericsson advanced to the Top 12, putting all three Andretti cars past the first round of qualifying. Josef Newgarden and Caio Collet set lap times in the 1:05s, with close margins between all four drivers, respectively. Collet, still nursing broken ribs after his Indianapolis 500 crash, was the only rookie to make it to the top 12 this weekend.

Alexander Rossi, Kyffin Simpson, Santino Ferruci, Marcus Armstrong, and Dennis Hauger did not advance to Round 2.

Credits: Bella Rosen

Round 2

The top 12 commenced with all cars leaving the pit lane at the same time, and O’Ward setting the starting time of 1:05:253s. 

As the session progressed, Palou managed to get in front of the field, ensuring he had clean air ahead. Having done well to save his tires, it was still not enough to beat O’Ward’s lap time. 

The Andrettis of Power, Kirkwood, and Ericsson shuffled around the top four with Power eventually leading the three with a time of 1:05:001s. 

Power’s fastest lap, quickly taken away by Rasmussen, saw the Ed Carpenter Racing driver put down a lap in the 1:04 range, followed by Lundgaard with a similar time. 

With the track getting better and tires getting warmer, Malukas wrapped up the session in first and set a time of 1:04:709s, keeping close to the Danish drivers battling for pole.

The checkered flag saw the end of Palou’s streak, keeping him, Ericsson and Kirkwood out of the Fast 6 along with Newgarden, Collet and Rahal.

Fast 6 

Fighting it out for pole position, the Firestone Fast 6 welcomed Rasmussen for the first time on a road course and of the season, with Power looking for a pole in Mid-Ohio for the first time in six years.

With two and a half minutes to go, Lundgaard was the last driver to leave the pit lane, putting the pressure on him to set his best time in one lap. 

O’Ward put in his fastest lap with less than 30 seconds to go, followed by Power and Malukas; however, Lundgaard managed to go fastest with a time of 1:04:8396s, taking pole position at Mid-Ohio and securing a front-row start alongside O’Ward. 

Power and Malukas complete row two, with Rasumssen and VeeKay just behind. 

His first pole position of the season, Lundgaard will lead the field to green as he looks for a back-to-back win this weekend.