Pato O'Ward took his ninth different pole in nine Indy races and will start from the position of honor at Mid-Ohio. In title contention, Marcus Ericsson, Will Power, and Josef Newgarden were outside the top-10
Pato O'Ward will start from the pole-position of Indy's Mid-Ohio GP. In the session held on Saturday afternoon (2), the Mexican McLaren driver clocked 1min06s705 and will lead the pack on Sunday. O'Ward became the ninth different Indy pole position in nine races in the 2022 season.
With a time 0s132s slower than O'Ward's, New Zealander Scott McLaughlin puts Penske on the front row. Andretti's Colton Herta is third, and will have O'Ward's McLaren teammate Felix Rosenqvist alongside him. Scott Dixon is fifth, with Simon Pagenaud sixth.
Current champion Spaniard Álex Palou will start seventh with Ganassi, followed by rookies David Malukas, Kyle Kirkwood, and Callum Ilott, who round out the top-10. Carpenter's Rinus VeeKay and Andretti's Alexander Rossi make up the sixth row.
The top three drivers in the championship were eliminated in the first qualifying segment. Penske's Josef Newgarden will start 14th, followed by Ganassi's Marcus Ericsson. Will Power, second in the season, was punished for disturbing Helio Castroneves in Q1 and lost the best two timed laps, and will start only 21st.
Meyer Shank's Brazilian Castroneves failed to advance from the first qualifying round and will start 15th.
The start of the Mid-Ohio GP is scheduled for 1:50 pm (Brasília) this Sunday. The race is fully covered by GRANDE PRÊMIO, and broadcast by Cultura on free-to-air television, ESPN on cable channels, and Star+ on streaming.
Find out how the Mid-Ohio GP standings went:
Q1: Top-3 in the championship are eliminated. Castroneves is 17th
Group 1: Will Power, David Malukas, Rinus VeeKay, Scott McLaughlin, Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson, Simon Pagenaud, Callum Ilott, Helio Castroneves, Takuma Sato, Simona de Silvestro, Dalton Kellett
Qualifying got underway at 3:45 pm (Brasília time) for Group 1. The drivers took to the track first on hard tires. The first half, still with high times, had Scott McLaughlin in the lead with 1min07s943. Dalton Kellett, already on soft tires, ran off the track.
With soft tires in the second half, the best time of the group was in the hands of Scott McLaughlin, with 1min06s589. VeeKay, Pagenaud, Rossi, Ilott, and Malukas moved up. Power had the best time of the group, but was punished for disturbing Castroneves and had his time deleted. Ericsson was also eliminated.
Group 2: Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden, Álex Palou, Pato O'Ward, Scott Dixon, Conor Daly, Christian Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist, Jack Harvey, Kyle Kirkwood, Graham Rahal, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jimmie Johnson, and Tatiana Calderón,
In the first half of group 2, with all drivers using hard tires, Josef Newgarden emerged ahead with 1min07s630. Rosenqvist, Palou, Herta, O'Ward and Daly joined the team that advanced to Fast 12.
In the race on soft tires, Felix Rosenqvist surprised and jumped to the first place with 1min06s537. Pato O'Ward, Colton Herta, Scott Dixon, Álex Palou, and the surprising Kyle Kirkwood qualified, leaving Josef Newgarden out.
Fast 12: Palou eliminated
The 10 minutes for Fast 12 were released at 4:20 pm. This time, drivers like McLaughlin, Pagenaud, Ilott, and Kirkwood opted to go in on soft tires on the first outing to the track. McLaughlin and Ilott were the first places in the first half, with the New Zealander registering 1min07s322.
In the second stint, with everyone on soft tires, Scott McLaughlin was the fastest, with 1min06s534. Rosenqvist, O'Ward, Dixon, Herta, and Pagenaud closed the qualifying to dispute the pole position. Defending champion Palou was eliminated.
Fast 6: O'Ward is pole
With six minutes on the clock, all the drivers decided to take to the track on soft tires right away. O'Ward was first for much of the segment with 1min07s085. The Mexican improved to 1min06s705, and was not overtaken by the competition. McLaughlin was second, with Herta third and Rosenqvist fourth.
Indy 2022, Mid-Ohio GP, Qualifying: