Kirkwood’s late spin helps Herta to Detroit pole · RaceFans

Colton Herta secured pole position for the Detroit Grand Prix after benefitting from a red flag caused by Andretti team mate Kyle Kirkwood.

A spin for Kirkwood triggered a red flag when Herta was quickest ahead of
Alex Palou. None of the drivers in the Fast Six could improve as the session resumed, handing the Andretti driver pole.

Palou will start alongside him on the front row, ahead of Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin.

Despite a crash in practice, McLaren rookie Theo Pourchaire bounced back to top the first group, progressing alongside Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Kyle Kirkwood, Will Power and Santino Ferrucci. Championship leader Alex Palou set the pace in the second group, progressing along with Christian Lundgaard, Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson, Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon.

O’Ward’s second round ended in embarrassing fashion when he got stuck at turn five trying to get out of the way of cars behind, but stalled the car. After a red flag, the session resumed without the McLaren driver, with Palou, Newgarden, Dixon, McLaughlin, Kirkwood and Herta those who progressed through to the Fast Six.

Palou set the quickest time with a 1’00.699, before Herta took provisional pole by a tenth-and-a-half in the closing minutes. With less than a minute remaining, Kirkwood ran wide at the end of the long straight into the turn three escape road. Kirkwood’s attempt to spin-turn the car failed, stalling the car and bringing out the red flag.

The session resumed with every driver guaranteed a final flying lap, however a single outlap did not seem like enough to help the drivers prepare their tyres for a push lap and there were no improvements, leaving Herta on pole – his first for a year.

Palou will start second with Indy 500 winner Newgarden in third. McLaughlin will start fourth ahead of Dixon, with Kirkwood demoted to sixth after having his times deleted for causing the red flag. Pourchaire will start seventh ahead of Power, Ericsson and Ferrucci completing the top ten.

After their respective six second grid drops for exceeding their engine allocations, Graham Rahal and Kyffin Simpson will start down in 19th and 27th, respectively.

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Qualifying result