Chrstian Lundgaard took pole at the IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland, with the Arrow McLaren man set to start P7 due to a grid penalty.
Christian Lundgaard and Colton Herta found form heading into qualifying, having led Practice 1 and the second practice session respectively. IndyCar handed a six-position grid penalty to Josef Newgarden prior to the start of qualifying, for an unapproved engine change. Drivers’ Championship rivals Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward are set to start P1 and P5 due to Lundgaard’s penalty.
Lundgaard will be disappointed to have his performance blighted by the penalty, but admitted on FOX his first pole since Indy Toronto 2023 was the “best-case scenario.”
Round 1 Group 1
Championship leader Alex Palou led the field on track to start qualifying in Portland. Kyffin Simpson, Noah Siegel, and Robert Shwartzman opted for the Firestone reds, while the rest of the field opted for the primary tyres.
Times tumbled as the field settled into setting their first laps of the session. Simpson took P1 with a 58.5 second lap, followed by Scott McLaughlin with a 59.0. Palou found himself outside of the top six cut-off with a 59.1.
Sting Ray Robb had a moment on the exit of Turn 6, running wide and spinning – but easily recovering his car and carrying on. David Malukas was given a drive-through penalty for cutting the corner of Turn 1.
Those who started on the primary tyres made their switch to the alternates for their final run for the session. Simpson improved to a 58.4, followed by Siegel who posted a 58.7. Palou’s first fast lap was an excellent one, putting the Spaniard in P1 with a 58.1.
Will Power followed Palou into P2, two tenths behind with a 58.3. Marcus Armstrong pushed himself into the top six with a 58.6, followed by McLaughin and Santino Ferrucci with a pair of 58.6 laps.
However, the red flag flew as Schwartzman went off at the Turn 10-11 complex, putting his car into the barriers before recovering it to pit road. IndyCar extended the session, allowing drivers to set one final push lap.
Palou, Power, and Shwartzman opted to remain in the pits, with the first two confident of their standing in P1 and P2. All drivers improved to within tenths of the cut-off line, though Veekay had an off at Turn 5.
At the checkered flag, it was Palou, Simpson, Power, Armstrong, Rossi, and Malukas who posted good enough laps to enter Round 2.
Round 1 Group 2
Josef Newgarden led the field out for Group 2 at the Portland GP, followed by Championship-battler Pato O’Ward. Marcus Ericsson, Kyle Kirkwood, and Jacob Abel opted for the alternates to start the session.
Scott Dixon was the first driver to enter the sub-one minute laps with a 59.95, although his spot in P1 was not to last. Kirkwood posted a 58.8 and bested it with a 58.5 to end his first run, before Andretti teammate Ericsson jumped ahead of him with a 58.3. Fellow alternate runner Abel found himself P9 with a 59.2.
Following the Andretti teammates in the top six after the first run were Newgarden, O’Ward, Devlin DeFrancesco, and Callum Ilott. Felix Rosenqvist, Dixon, Herta, and Lundgaard all found themselves outside the transfer line.
All drivers switched to fresh alternates for the final runs of the session. Ilott’s 59.1 was the target for all to enter the top six. Rosenqvist posted a 58.4 to enter the top six, as Herta and Rahal joined him with 58.5 laps. O’Ward found himself outside the transfer, but immediately posted a 58.2 for P1. Newgarden also found himself outside the transfer in a fast-paced session, however recovered to P3 with his final lap.
Kirkwood’s excellent pace at the start of the session was not to continue, as the American found himself P10 and outside the transfer. DeFrancesco, Herta, Christian Rasmussen, Kirkwood, Graham Rahal, Ilott, Conor Daly, and Abel joined Kirkwood outside the top six.
Progressing from Round 1 Group 2 were O’Ward, Ericsson, Newgarden, Dixon, Lundgaard, and Rosenqvist.
Round 2
A star-studded group of the 12 fastest entered Round 2 of qualifying in Portland, with Palou leading the field through their outlaps.
Palou and Newgarden led the field after the first push laps, both posting 59.6 second laps. However, Lundgaard bested them with a 59.5, before Newgarden improved to P1 and O’Ward topped all. Armstrong and Power also posted laps to find themselves in the top six, before Power improved to P3 with a 59.2. Malukas also entered the top six, with a 59.3.
After the first runs, only a hundreth could separate Newgarden in P1 from Palou in P2 – the former in P1 with a 59.1.
With under five minutes remaining of the session, all drivers headed out for their final runs on the Firestone alternates. Team Penske delayed the outlap of Newgarden, hoping for a gap for their driver.
Palou and Power improved to times in the mid-58s, occupying the top two positions. Newgarden also improved but remained in place with a 58.6, before Palou posted a 58.3 to put himself ahead of all. However, Palou’s lead did not last long. O’Ward fought back with a 58.2 to take P1, while Malukas and Ericsson put themselves in the top six.
In the dying embers of the session, Lundgaard posted a 58.2 to go P1, but a 58.1 from Rosenqvist put him P2. The late flurry of activity saw Rossi, Armstrong, Newgarden, Dixon, Ericsson, and Simpson miss the transfer.
However, Rosenqvist, Lundgaard, O’Ward, Palou, Power, and Malukas booked their spots in the Firestone Fast 6. Lundgaard, given a grid penalty by IndyCar for an engine change, can only start from P7 at best.
Firestone Fast 6
Six minutes of rapid-fire action began as the drivers headed out for the Fast 6.
Palou, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Malukas, and Lundgaard opted to go in-and-out on their first lap, looking to warm up their car after the pause between sessions. However, Power stayed out and posted a 58.8 to take provisional pole.
The rest of the field emerged on their alternates, and began their warm-up process, while Power returned to track from the pits. Power has been on pole in Portland once before, setting the lap record in 2018, and looked to do so again as his IndyCar future remains shrouded in mystery.
Championship leader Palou found himself off at the end of his lap, identical to Shwartzman’s incident earlier on. Palou caused the yellow to be shown, and lost his fastest lap as a result.
Power improved with a 58.6 to set the target for all, and a frantic end to qualifying saw plenty of movement across the top six. Lundgaard went fastest with a 58.3, O’Ward followed him to P2 with a 58.5, and Rosenqvist also bested Power’s lap with a 58.5.
Behind Power were Malukas and, surprisingly, Palou, having made an uncharacteristic mistake.
IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland Qualifying Results
- Lundgaard
- O’Ward
- Rosenqvist
- Power
- Malukas
- Palou
- Rossi
- Armstrong
- Newgarden
- Dixon
- Ericsson
- Simpson
- McLaughlin
- DeFrancesco
- Ferruci
- Herta
- Foster
- Rasmussen
- Siegel
- Kirkwood
- Robb
- Rahal
- VeeKay
- Ilott
- Shwartzman
- Daly
- Abel
