Sebastian Saavedra Takes Pole Position For First Grand Prix Of Indianapolis

Sebastian Saavedra outlasted the field in a rain-soaked qualifying session to take the first ever Verizon P1 Award for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Friday afternoon.

A sudden downpour briefly delayed the final qualifying session and left puddles as the final six drivers took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s new 14-turn road course. The slick conditions kept speeds nearly 20 mph below the slowest speeds of the earlier qualifying rounds, and contributed to the first accident of the event.

Ryan Hunter-Reay lost control of his car in turn 14 and slid backwards into the outside wall. The heavy impact caused significant damage to the right rear of his car, but he was able to walk away on his own.

As a result of the crash, Hunter-Reay’s quickest two laps of the 10-minute session were revoked.
That moved Saavedra to the pole position and rookie Jack Hawksworth to the second position, creating an unlikely front row for the inaugural Grand Prix.

Hunter-Reay ended up third and will start alongside Simon Pagenaud in row two. Verizon IndyCar Series championship points leader Will Power and reigning series champion Scott Dixon are on Row 3.

Qualifying for the Grand Prix was a knockout format. There were three 10-minute sessions. The field was whittled down based on drivers' fatest laps in each session. The fast six competed for the pole position.

Qualifying Results

qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses

1.  (17) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 01:23.8822 (104.675)
2.  (98) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 01:24.0788 (104.431)
3.  (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 01:24.8882 (103.435)
4.  (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.2881 (102.950)
5.  (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 01:25.5216 (102.669)
6.  (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 01:25.6548 (102.509)
7.  (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.5187 (103.887)
8.  (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.6209 (103.762)
9.  (10) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.7099 (103.653)
10.  (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.8839 (103.440)
11.  (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.1318 (103.139)
12.  (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.4748 (102.725)
13.  (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.2488 (124.990)
14.  (8) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.2261 (125.030)
15.  (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.3601 (124.792)
16.  (14) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.2804 (124.934)
17.  (18) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4264 (124.675)
18.  (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4141 (124.697)
19.  (34) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5097 (124.528)
20.  (41) Martin Plowman, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4591 (124.617)
21.  (26) Franck Montagny, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5571 (124.444)
22.  (16) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5996 (124.369)
23.  (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6413 (124.296)
24.  (20) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6535 (124.274)
25.  (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 01:11.2704 (123.198)

photos by Doug Jaggers, WFYI