McLaughlin soars to Barber pole

Scott McLaughlin has put a “tough” week behind him by flying to IndyCar pole in a Penske 1-2 at Barber.

McLaughlin was the only driver to record 1m5s time around Barber Motorsports Park on his way to a sixth career pole.

Starting alongside the Kiwi on the front row in the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is Australian star Will Power.

McLaughlin’s 1:05.9490 was just over a tenth clear of Power’s 1:06.0460.

The Penske drivers were followed by Christian Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist, while NZ driver Marcus Armstrong will start sixth after his first Fast Six appearance and Scott Dixon 13th.

McLaughlin set the early benchmark in the Fast Six shootout with a 1:06.329 and had another crack, only to make an error at Turn 5.

Power was one of the earliest to have a crack on his second set of tyres and lowered the benchmark to a 1:06.0460.

This looked set to be enough for pole, only for McLaughlin to find new ground and go into the 1m05s window on new tyres to beat the Aussie to Roger Penske’s 300th pole position.

After a week that saw Team Penske disqualified from St Petersburg win, McLaughlin admitted it meant a lot to take pole in style.

“It has been tough,” McLaughlin said.

“The Chevy was so good today and I just wanted to give these guys and girls an opportunity to be back on pole.

“It has been tough in the last few races because we haven’t hit it in qualifying so I am super proud of the execution today.

“I sent it pretty hard through the last few corners, but anytime you get a Team Penske front row is great and I am very proud of everyone.

“This means a lot bit we will keep focused on the rest of the season.”

Power although disappointed to have another near miss, said of his commitment to return to the top.

“We are hitting at such high levels now so it is a matter of tiny bits here or there,” Power said.

“I keep missing out by the tiniest of margins but at least we are there.

“I am really happy to be fighting for pole and it will come. I am so determined to get a win and a pole because it has been so long.”

The Grand Prix of Alabama begins at 3.00 AEST Monday morning and will be broadcast on Stan Sport.

Photo by Michael L. Levitt / LAT Images

Grand Prix of Alabama qualifying results

1. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 1:05.9490 (125.552 mph)
2. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 1:06.0460 (125.367)
3. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 1:06.0818 (125.299)
4. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 1:06.2940 (124.898)
5. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 1:06.4524 (124.600)
6. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 1:06.9022 (123.763)
7. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 1:06.0942 (125.276)
8. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 1:06.2908 (124.904)
9. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 1:06.2959 (124.895)
10. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 1:06.3013 (124.884)
11. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 1:06.3526 (124.788)
12. (66) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 1:06.3871 (124.723)
13. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 1:06.1425 (125.184)
14. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 1:06.4803 (124.548)
15. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 1:06.1481 (125.174)
16. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 1:06.5054 (124.501)
17. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 1:06.2751 (124.934)
18. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 1:06.5846 (124.353)
19. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 1:06.2825 (124.920)
20. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 1:06.6706 (124.193)
21. (51) Luca Ghiotto, Honda, 1:06.4788 (124.551)
22. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 1:06.7969 (123.958)
23. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 1:06.5267 (124.461)
24. (6) Theo Pourchaire, Chevrolet, 1:06.9052 (123.757)
25. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 1:06.8404 (123.877)
26. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 1:07.4920 (122.681)
27. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 1:07.7392 (122.234)

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