With a lap of 1:05.5019, Pato O’Ward set a new track qualifying record and will start on pole for the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama. The 21-year old, driving the No. 5 for Arrow McLaren SP, gave Chevrolet its 100th NTT IndyCar Series pole in 150 races since returning to engine manufacturer competition in 2012.
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Pato O’Ward set the new Barber Motorsports Park mark in the second knockout qualifying session on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course, timing in at 1:05.5019. A native of Monterrey, Mexico, O’Ward is seeking his first IndyCar victory after a nine-win Indy Lights season in 2018.
Pato O’Ward, who will be making his 23rd NTT INDYCAR SERIES start, said during a post-qualifying press conference:
“We made some changes after Practice 2 that helped,” said “We’ve been working so hard in the off-season, and we’re clicking. Everybody on the team is working well together, and I knew exactly what time I needed to get out of the reds (alternate tires), and we just had to maintain pace on (primary) blacks because I thought we were pretty strong. We did that, and we’re starting on pole. It feels good. These guys deserve it, and we’ve got a race to win tomorrow. I’m really hungry, and I love this place to death.”
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Here is the starting lineup for the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama.
1 Pato O’Ward
2 Alexander Rossi
3 Alex Palou
4 Will Power
5 Scott Dixon
6 Marcus Ericsson
7 Romain Grosjean (R)
8 Josef Newgarden
9 Colton Herta
10 Conor Daly
11 Jack Harvey
12 Scott McLaughlin (R)
13 Ed Jones
14 Rinus Veekasy
15 Simon Pagenaud
16 Sebastien Bourdais
17 Ryan Hunter-Reay
18 Graham Rahal
19 Takuma Sato
20 Max Chilton
21 Jimmie Johnson (R)
22 Felix Rosenqvist
23 Dalton Kellett
24 James Hinchcliffe
(R) Rookie