Romain Grosjean took his second pole position of the 2023 IndyCar season today at Barber Motorsports Park, the site of the Grand Prix of Alabama.
Grosjean, who won the pole for the season-opening round in St Petersburg, Florida, got his third career IndyCar pole with a last-lap flyer to dismiss Pato O’Ward from provisional pole – 24 hours after he’d suffered an engine failure in opening practice on Friday.
The question heading into Sunday evening’s 90 laps will now be whether or not the ten-year Formula 1 veteran can win his first race in IndyCar after four near-misses.
Alex Palou, who scored his first career win in IndyCar at Barber two years ago, will start second, ahead of defending race winner O’Ward in third place. The two Scotts from New Zealand round out the top five on the grid – McLaughlin in fourth, and Dixon in fifth.
Christian Lundgaard qualified a season-high sixth place while his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team mates each failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying.
Just back of the cut line for the fast six session, three-time Alabama race winner Josef Newgarden was seventh after being bumped out by McLaughlin. Felix Rosenqvist was eighth-fastest, with Rinus VeeKay in ninth, Alexander Rossi in tenth, and defending series champion Will Power in 11th.
Two weeks after his first win, Kyle Kirkwood could only muster 12th place in qualifying after he spun on his out lap during the second round of qualifying.
IndyCar points leader Marcus Ericsson just missed the cut in his first round group, and will start 13th, ahead of Colton Herta in 14th. Also noteworthy from the first round was rookie Marcus Armstrong losing his two fastest laps from the session for impeding his old Formula 2 rival Lundgaard, which took him out of the top six and dropped him to 26th on the grid.
The green flag for the 2023 Grand Prix of Alabama flies at 8:30 PM BST.
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Alabama Indy Grand Prix qualifying results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti | Honda |
| 2 | 10 | Alex Palou | Ganassi | Honda |
| 3 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 5 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi | Honda |
| 6 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | RLL | Honda |
| 7 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 8 | 6 | Felix Rosenqvist | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 9 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 10 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 11 | 12 | Will Power | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 12 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti | Honda |
| 13 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Ganassi | Honda |
| 14 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti | Honda |
| 15 | 77 | Callum Ilott | Juncos Hollinger | Chevrolet |
| 16 | 60 | Simon… |
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