Wickens Claims Pole for Honda in IndyCar Series Debut
Robert Wickens, a veteran race winner in the highly competitive DTM Championship in Germany but a rookie in Verizon IndyCar Series competition, prevailed in tricky, damp conditions Saturday to claim the pole for Sunday's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Light rain made portions of the 1.8-mile temporary circuit, a combination of city streets and a runway from the downtown Albert Whitted Airport, very slick, including the painted curbing and runway markers. The tricky conditions caught out several competitors, but Wickens advanced through each stage of "knockout" qualifying to take the pole in his IndyCar Series debut.
Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay also advanced to the final qualifying round, and will start fifth and sixth, respectively. Scott Dixon will start ninth after advancing to the second round, while Alexander Rossi was penalized for impeding a fellow competitor during the second round, dropping him to 12th in the 24-car starting field. Sunday's 110-lap season-opener, the race debut of the new Dallara UAK18 Indy car, starts at 12:30 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on ABC.
Robert Wickens (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) pole qualifier, first Indy car race: "I'm a little speechless. Going into the weekend, I was hoping we could make it into the Top 10. When we got into the Fast Six I was like, 'OK let's go have some fun'. My team called great strategy, and made the right changes for the track at the end. I didn't really know where I was [ranked] the whole session, because of the way the track was evolving. So it was a little surprising, but I'm super happy."
Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Circuit: Bayfront Park (1.8-mile temporary street circuit) St. Petersburg, FL 2017 Winner: Will Power (Team Penske) 106.118 mph average Weather: Overcast, very light rain, 70 degrees F
Top-12 Qualifying Results:
| Ps. |
Driver |
Team |
Manufacturer |
Best Time |
Notes |
|
1. |
Robert Wickens-R |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
1:01.6643 |
Pole in 1st Indy car race |
|
2. |
Will Power |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:01.7346 |
+0.0701 seconds |
|
3. |
Matheus Leist-R |
A.J. Foyt Racing |
Chevrolet |
1:01.7631 |
Fast Six final qualifying |
|
4. |
Jordan King-R |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
Chevrolet |
1:01.7633 |
Fast Six final qualifying |
|
5. |
Takuma Sato |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
1:01.8821 |
Fast Six final qualifying |
|
6. |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:02.0385 |
Fast Six final qualifying |
|
7. |
James Hinchcliffe |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
1:00.9986 |
2nd round qualifying |
|
8. |
Gabby Chaves |
Harding Racing |
Chevrolet |
1:01.1191 |
2nd round qualifying |
|
9. |
Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:01.6527 |
2nd round qualifying |
|
10. |
Tony Kanaan |
A.J. Foyt Racing |
Chevrolet |
1:01.7213 |
2nd round qualifying |
|
11. |
Simon Pagenaud |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:04.6739 |
Penalized (spin) |
|
12. |
Alexander Rossi |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:07.0377 |
Penalized (impeding) |
Other Honda Results:
| 14. |
Sebastien Bourdais |
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan |
Honda |
1:00.9587 |
Round 1, Group 2 |
|
15. |
Zach Veach-R |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:00.4585 |
Round 1, Group 1 |
|
17. |
Ed Jones |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:00.5009 |
Round 1, Group 1 |
|
18. |
Marco Andretti |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:01.3013 |
Penalized (impeding) |
|
19. |
Jack Harvey-R |
Michael Shank Racing |
Honda |
1:01.0270 |
Round 1, Group 1 |
|
22. |
Zachary Claman DeMelo-R |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
1:01.8567 |
Round 1, Group 2 |
|
24. |
Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
1:04.0990 |
Penalized (caused red flag) |
# # #
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