Helio Castroneves secured his second consecutive pole position as he took top spot for Team Penske for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday.
The Brazilian topped the Fast Six session with a 1m07.1246s ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, while their respective team-mates Simon Pagenaud and Tony Kanaan were third and fourth.
Juan Pablo Montoya was the only other driver to set a time in the final qualifying session, with the third of the Penske drivers claimed fifth on the grid, as the fourth Penske of Will Power caused a red flag after running off track at the end of the straight.
There was confusion ahead of the Fast Six session as timing system problems made drivers wonder who had made it through, with even pole sitter Castroneves unsure until things sorted themselves out.
James Hinchcliffe was the highest placed Honda-powered driver in seventh for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, ahead of Takuma Sato of the AJ Foyt Enterprises team, while Josef Newgarden of Ed Carpenter Racing and Carlos Munoz of Andretti Autosport completed the top ten.
After impressing during the early running this weekend, Foyt’s Jack Hawksworth had a disappointing qualifying, ending down in twentieth, just behind fellow Briton Max Chilton of Chip Ganassi Racing.
Long Beach Qualifying Times
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