Scott Dixon admitted his surprise that the black-walled Firestone tyres were the preferred and quicker option during the Fast Six shootout at Watkins Glen International on Saturday but broke the lap record on his way to pole position.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver took his second pole of 2016 and the twenty-fifth of his Verizon IndyCar Series career with a fastest lap of 1:22.5259, which was more than five seconds faster than the previous lap record set back in 2009.
“I was surprised the red tyres weren’t faster,” admitted Dixon. “I don’t know what the average speed is around here, but it’s really fast.
“We tested here before but had some rain and were limited to just a few hours. We kind of evolved the car through other tracks we’ve run at and did the best we could with baseline set-ups from tracks like Road America and Mid-Ohio
Dixon was happy to see his team-mates Tony Kanaan and Max Chilton making it through to the Fast Six, but is looking to extend his dominance across the weekend at Watkins Glen into the race having topped every practice session and qualifying so far.
“It’s good to see a few of my team-mates up there in the top six and hope we can take the fight here to everyone tomorrow at The Glen,” finished Dixon.
