Scott McLaughlin

McLaughlin gets to keep Gateway pole this time after Herta crashes

IndyCar

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Scott McLaughlin qualified fastest for the second year in a row in Gateway but this time he will get to start there.

The Penske driver lost pole position at the oval 12 months ago due to exceeding his maximum number of new engines. But he secured pole for tomorrow’s race in a session which was disrupted when rival Colton Herta crashed.

The Andretti driver was on course to rival McLaughlin’s time when he completed his first of two laps fractionally slower than his rival. However Herta’s car snapped sideways as he began his second lap and he swiped the barrier at an almost perfectly perpendicular angle, knocking his rear wing out of joint and damaging the rear crash structure.

Although Herta was able to limp back to the pits in his damaged car, the session was suspended before the final three drivers were sent out. But the track conditions appeared to worsen during the break in running, and none were able to get within 1.1kph of McLaughlin’s average time.

That cemented the fourth pole position of the season for McLaughlin, and his third on an oval. He will share the front row of the grid with Felix Rosenqvist.

The Meyer Shank driver narrowly beat David Malukas in the team’s second car. But Malukas is one of four drivers who will serve the same penalty McLaughlin had last year for an engine change. Josef Newgarden and Will Power are therefore promoted to third and fourth places respectively, leaving Rosenqvist the only non-Penske driver in the top four places.

Along with Power, championship leader Alex Palou and his team mate Scott Dixon were the last three drivers to run after Herta’s crash. However the Ganassi drivers also have engine change penalties and will surrender their top 10 starting positions as a result.

Therefore fifth-place Kyle Kirkwood will be followed by ex-F1 drivers Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson. Pato O’Ward, McLaren’s top qualifier, will rise three places to eighth on the grid. Grosjean’s new team mate Conor Daly impressed by qualifying in the top half of the field.

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Qualifying result

Pos. No. Driver Time
1 3 Scott McLaughlin 25.0055
2 60 Felix Rosenqvist 24.9961
3 66 David Malukas 25.0587
4 2 Josef Newgarden 25.0708
5 12 Will Power 25.1343
6 27 Kyle Kirkwood 25.2190
7 10 Alex Palou 25.2440
8 77 Romain Grosjean 25.1672
9 28 Marcus Ericsson 25.2318
10 9 Scott Dixon 25.3218
11 5 Pato O’Ward 25.4091
12 78 Conor Daly 25.3928
13 11 Marcus Armstrong 25.5229
14 21 Rinus VeeKay 25.4883
15 7 Alexander Rossi 25.5535
16 15 Graham Rahal 25.6024
17 30 Pietro Fittipaldi 25.6738
18 14 Santino Ferrucci 25.6347
19 8 Linus Lundqvist 25.4517
20 6 Nolan Siegel 25.7156
21 20 Ed Carpenter 25.7573
22 4 Kyffin Simpson 25.8946
23 45 Christian Lundgaard 25.9209
24 41 Sting Robb 26.0895
25 26 Colton Herta 25.0127

NB. Jack Harvey (26th) and Katherine Legge (27th) set no times.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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1 comments on “McLaughlin gets to keep Gateway pole this time after Herta crashes”

  1. Great qualy. McLaughlin is turning into a very good IndyCar driver.

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