Will Power scored his second consecutive Verizon IndyCar Series pole, and fifth of the season, after posting the quickest lap in the final round of qualifying for the Honda Indy Toronto on Saturday afternoon.
Power posted a fast lap of 59.4280 seconds around the 11-turn, 1.755-mile Exhibition Place street circuit with only five seconds remaining in the 10-minute round of knockout qualifications.
With the pole, Power overtook Rick Mears for fifth on the all-time IndyCar list with 41. Helio Castroneves is the active leader with 43, while Mario Andretti tops the all-time list with 67.
“Starting on the pole is great to keep out of any messes, and obviously IndyCar races are never straightforward so it’s just awesome to get the pole,” Power said. “It’s a long (race) day and we’ll see what we can do. It’s all about manhandling the car because you’ve got those slippery surfaces in the middle of the corners, so you’ve got to be on the wheel a lot.”
Power’s Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud will join him on the front row, as the Frenchman was just .1815 seconds back for his second front-row start in a row and fourth this season.
At 11th in the IndyCar standings, Pagenaud has been left disappointed in his first season with the Chevrolet powerhouse and Sunday represents a great opportunity for the 33-year-old to turn his season around.
“Qualifying has not been the issue,” Pagenaud said. “We’ve been in the fast six every session since the beginning of the season but it’s executing in the end where things haven’t gone our way. I think we had it but just made a little mistake when the tires were at their peak. But I’m happy with front row. I’m happy for Team Penske.”
This is the fourth time this season that Power and Pagenaud have shared the front row at the start of an IndyCar Series race.
NBCSN is on the air at 3 p.m. (ET) June 14 with the telecast of the 85-lap race. The complete starting lineup can be found below.
- Will Power
- Simon Pagenaud
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Scott Dixon
- Sebastien Bourdais
- Luca Filippi
- Helio Castroneves
- Takuma Sato
- Tony Kanaan
- Graham Rahal
- Josef Newgarden
- James Jakes
- Carlos Munoz
- Jack Hawksworth
- Charlie Kimball
- Ryan Hunter-Reay
- Sebastian Saavedra
- Marco Andretti
- Conor Daly
- Stefano Coletti
- Tristan Vautier
- Gabby Chaves
- Rodolfo Gonzalez