Simon Pagenaud secured pole position for the Verizon IndyCar Series’ finale at Sonoma Raceway, and moved one step closer to the championship.
The Frenchman led a Team Penske 1-2-3-4 in qualifying on Saturday, with Pagenaud taking the one point on offer to move 44 points clear of team-mate Will Power, who will start the race fourth on the grid.
In between the two title protagonists will be the other two Penske drivers, with Helio Castroneves on the front row in second and Juan Pablo Montoya third.
Graham Rahal will start fifth for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, the best of the Honda-powered entries, who also saw Ryan Hunter-Reay make it through to the Fast Six shootout on Saturday for Andretti Autosport.
Just missing out on the shootout was Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing, who will start seventh alongside Andretti Herta Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, while row five will be filled by KVSH Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Josef Newgarden.
Mikhail Aleshin was eleventh fastest for Schmidt Peterson Motorsport ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Charlie Kimball, who was the slowest of the twelve drivers in the second segment of qualifying.
Fastest of those failing to escape Q1 was Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti of Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport respectively, with the Brazilian lining up thirteenth and the American fourteenth.
Takuma Sato and Carlos Munoz fill row eight ahead of Jack Hawksworth and Max Chilton, while Spencer Pigot, James Hinchcliffe, Conor Daly and RC Enerson complete the field.
Sonoma Raceway Qualifying Result
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