Dixon Leads Honda Qualifying Effort at Barber Motorsports Park
- Scott Dixon qualifies 4th, third consecutive top-four qualifying performance of 2017
- Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe also advance to "Fast Six" final qualifying
- Honda drivers claim eight of the top 11 starting positions
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Scott Dixon led the way for Honda in Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying at Barber Motorsports Park, and will start on the outside of the second row, fourth, in Sunday's Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. It is Dixon's third consecutive top-four qualifying run of the 2017 season, after the Chip Ganassi Racing driver started second at the first two races of the season, in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Long Beach, California.
Two-time Barber winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe both also advanced to the final round of "knockout" qualifying Saturday, with Hunter-Reay qualifying fifth for Andretti Autosport and Long Beach race winner Hinchcliffe rounding out the top six for Honda and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Eight Honda drivers from four different teams advanced from first-round qualifying to secure starting positions in the top 12 for Sunday's race, including Mikhail Aleshin in the second Schmidt-Peterson Honda; Ganassi Racing teammates Max Chilton and Tony Kanaan; and the Dale Coyne Racing duo of rookie Ed Jones and St. Petersburg race winner Sebastien Bourdais.
Sunday's 90-lap Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) qualified 4th: "Honda has done a great job making improvements in the off-season, and we struggled a bit in qualifying to get all that [additional] power to the ground! We have a very good NTT DATA Honda. The Penske cars [starting 1-2-3] are pretty fast, but we kept up pretty well, given the rise in temperature today. Tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler, and I feel our car will respond to that better than the temps we saw today. I'm happy with our starting spot and hope we have something to get to the front here at Barber Sunday."
Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Circuit: Barber Motorsports Park (2.3-mile road course) Birmingham, Ala. 2016 Winner: Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske) 114.254 mph average Weather: Mostly cloudy, warm, 81 degrees F
Top-12 Qualifying Results:
| Ps. |
Driver |
Team |
Manufacturer |
Best Time |
Notes |
|
1. |
Will Power |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:06.9614 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
2. |
Helio Castroneves |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:07.1429 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
3. |
Simon Pagenaud |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:07.3817 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
4. |
Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:07.5817 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
5. |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:07.6851 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
6. |
James Hinchcliffe |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
1:07.8710 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
7. |
Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:07.5941 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
|
8. |
Mikhail Aleshin |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
1:07.9467 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
|
9. |
Max Chilton |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:07.9788 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
|
10. |
Tony Kanaan |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:08.0305 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
| 11. | Ed Jones-R | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 1:08.2034 | 2nd Round Qualifying |
| 12. | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 1:08.2726 | 2nd Round Qualifying |
Other Honda Results
| 13. |
Marco Andretti |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:07.5405 |
1st Round, Group 1 |
|
14. |
Takuma Sato |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:07.6928 |
1st Round, Group 2 |
|
15. |
Charlie Kimball |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:07.7033 |
1st Round, Group 1 |
|
18. |
Alexander Rossi |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:07.7483 |
1st Round, Group 2 |
|
21. |
Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
1:08.0499 |
1st Round, Group 2 |
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