DETROIT (May 29, 2015) – Will Power set the qualifying lap track record on the way to earning the Verizon P1 Award for Race 1 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans.
Power, who also set the track record in the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg with the new Chevrolet road/street aerodynamic bodywork package, recorded a lap of 1 minute, 16.0941 seconds on the 2.35-mile, 14-turn street circuit in the Firestone Fast Six session.
Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves (1:16.1200) and recently-crowned Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya (1:16.4428) qualified second and third, respectively, in the three-round knockout qualifications for the 70-lap race May 30 (3:30 p.m. ET on ABC).
Takuma Sato, who qualified a season-high fourth (1:16.5363) in the No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda, held the previous track record of 1:16.1371 – which he set in 2014. Simon Pagenaud, the fourth Team Penske entry in the Firestone Fast Six, qualified fifth (1:16.6656) and Sebastien Bourdais of KVSH Racing reached the final round for the second time this season and will start sixth (1:17.0406) for the third time this season.
It was the 39th career Indy car pole for Power, one behind Team Penske consultant Rick Mears for fifth on the all-time list. His previous best qualifying position at Belle Isle was second in 2012.
“I had new tires and was pushing hard (on his final lap) because they said Helio and Juan were pretty close,” said Power, who will mark his 100th Indy car start with Team Penske in Race 2 on May 31 (3:30 p.m. ET on ABC). “It’s the pole but it’s a long race around here. Once again, it’s about battling the teammates around here as 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.”
Power won Race 1 and was runner-up to Castroneves in Race 2 last year on Belle Isle, which provided a significant points boost to his championship aspirations. He ultimately won the title that season.
Castroneves, who has won three times at Belle Isle, and Pagenaud have competed in the Firestone Fast Six in all five road/street course races (the starting grid for the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana in mid-April was set by entrant points because of heavy rain in the knockout qualifications).
“The most important thing is the race. It was a good battle between me, Will and the rest of Team Penske,” Castroneves said. “Let’s go for tomorrow and see what happens.”
Scott Dixon (1:16.9768) in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet qualified seventh, and Verizon IndyCar Series rookie Stefano Coletti (1:17.3638) qualified a season-high eighth in the No. 4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet.
Tony Kanaan, who turned the quickest lap of 1:16.2931 in the 75-minute morning practice session in the No. 10 Taylor Swift Big Machine Records Chip Ganassi Racing Teams Chevrolet, did not advance out of Segment 1 and qualified 15th.
DETROIT – Qualifying Friday for the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race #1 Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.35-mile Raceway at Belle Isle Park, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses:
1. (1) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:16.0941 (111.178)
2. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 01:16.1200 (111.140)
3. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 01:16.4428 (110.671)
4. (14) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:16.5363 (110.536)
5. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:16.6656 (110.349)
6. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 01:17.0406 (109.812)
7. (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 01:16.9768 (109.903)
8. (4) Stefano Coletti, Chevrolet, 01:17.3638 (109.353)
9. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 01:17.3785 (109.333)
10. (7) James Jakes, Honda, 01:17.5158 (109.139)
11. (19) Tristan Vautier, Honda, 01:17.8140 (108.721)
12. (8) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 01:17.9046 (108.594)
13. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:18.2239 (108.151)
14. (41) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 01:18.7504 (107.428)
15. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 01:18.3144 (108.026)
16. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:19.3634 (106.598)
17. (83) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 01:18.3303 (108.004)
18. (67) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:21.4632 (103.851)
19. (20) Luca Filippi, Chevrolet, 01:18.4404 (107.853)
20. (26) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 01:21.4796 (103.830)
21. (5) Conor Daly, Honda, 01:18.4937 (107.779)
22. (18) Rodolfo Gonzalez, Honda, 01:21.8208 (103.397)
23. (98) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 01:19.2306 (106.777)
