Pablo Montoya moves ahead of Will Power and Scott Dixon on the last lap in the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Photo by \Paula Ritchey\/UPI |
License Photo
Defending IndyCar Series champion Will Power won the pole position for the first race in the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit weekend doubleheader after setting a new track qualifying record on the Belle Isle Park street circuit.
Power, the driver of the No. 1 Team Penske Chevrolet and winner of last year's first race in Detroit, made a lap around this 2.35-mile, 14-turn circuit in 1 minute, 16.0941 seconds during the final round of qualifying -- the Fast Six. His teammates Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya, who won last Sunday's Indianapolis 500, qualified second and third, respectively, to give Team Penske the top-three starting positions for Saturday's 70-lap race.
Takuma Sato held the previous track record at Belle Isle with a lap in 1:16.1371, set in race 2 of last year's weekend doubleheader.
It was the third pole of the season for Power. He started first and won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course earlier this month. Two months ago, Power set a new track qualifying record on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida but finished second to Montoya in the season-opening race there.
Power also finished runner-up to Montoya in the Indy 500, just 0.1 seconds behind his teammate.
"It's the pole, but it's a long race around here," Power said of his pole win for race 1 in Detroit. "Once again, it's about battling the (Penske) teammates around here, and we have all year. It's been a great weekend and a really good start. We will try and keep ourselves out of trouble and see what magic we can do tomorrow.
"I had new tires so I was pushing hard. Then they said Helio and Juan were pretty close. I made a couple of mistakes, and the car was pretty loose. But overall, it's a fantastic job and a good start to the weekend."
Power scored his 39th career Indy car pole, putting him one behind Team Penske consultant Rick Mears for fifth on the all-time pole winners list. Power's previous best qualifying position at Belle Isle was second in 2012.
Castroneves' lap time in the last round of qualifying was only 0.0259 seconds behind Power. Castroneves won race 2 in last year's doubleheader here.
"I wanted that pole position pretty badly, but the most important thing is the race," Castroneves said. "It was a good battle today between me, Will and the rest of Team Penske. Let's see what happens tomorrow."
Montoya's lap time was clocked in 1:16.4428 mph. He currently holds a 24-point lead over Power. Scott Dixon from Chip Ganassi Racing is 61 points behind Montoya. Dixon qualified seventh. Castroneves trails the leader by 66.
Sato placed fourth in qualifying, followed by Simon Pagenaud, who is driving for Penske this season, and Sebastien Bourdais.
Stefano Coletti, a rookie in the series this season, Marco Andretti and James Jakes completed the top-10.
Tony Kanaan had the quickest lap in Friday's lone practice session (1:16.2931), but Kanaan struggled in qualifying, as he did not advance out of round 1 and finished 15th.
[SportsNetwork.com]
