Indy 500: Dixon takes pole at 232mph, Alonso to start fifth

The 2008 Indy 500 winner Dixon three times sent his Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda around the 2.5-mile oval at over 232mph to set an average of 232.164mph. His opening lap of 232.595 was the fastest qualifying lap seen at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since Luyendyk's one-lap stunner of 237mph, also in 1996.

Dixon said: “Conditions were a bit better today, and we took a bit of a gamble trimming out. It feels damn good. Chris [Simmons, race engineer]  trimmed the car, and even before we went out there I said ‘Man, I think we’ve trimmed the car too much’ and I did have to lift a little bit.

"But that first lap was huge. I can’t thank the team enough.

“The emotions that you get at Indianapolis are just crazy. Obviously this is job one. The real deal comes up in a week’s time. The pole is its own race, its own deal, its own weekend.

“The significance of winning the pole is big, but obviously we’re here to win the race. In 2008 we won from the pole, so hopefully we can replicate that year.”

Dixon’s four-lap average was precisely 0.5mph faster than two-times Indy polesitter Ed Carpenter, who claimed second and pushed the defending Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi to the outside of the front row.

After setting an average of 231.487mph in his Andretti Autosport-Honda, Rossi commented: “It was hard, a lot harder than yesterday. Track temps were up, same for everyone. It was an OK run [although] Lap 2 wasn’t great, could’ve been better.

“Turn 2 is not hard, but it’s easy to make a mistake, because of the tail wind from 1 to 2, so the front end can take off easily. The actual fear is 3 and 4, because the wind is the other way and on the nose.”

Teammate Takuma Sato brushed the wall twice on his way to fourth, the only driver other than Dixon and Carpenter to grab a lap of 232mph.

McLaren Honda Andretti entrant Alonso was told to hold the gearbox in fifth on his second lap, having used sixth on his opening lap. Afterward he reported that the car was too loose, too.

“Today the car was better than yesterday,” said Alonso, “more a better balance and I felt more confident, but we had an overboost problem in the last corner, so the engine was hitting the ‘brakes’ out of the corner, so I think I lost a little bit of speed into the main straight. Nothing we can change now.

“The guys did an amazing job this morning, they changed the engine in an hour and a half – a record time. The car performed perfectly.”

Asked if he had had any moments at Turn 2, he replied: “Every single lap – so I had four moments!”

JR Hildebrand made it two Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolets in the top six, with Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti in seventh and eighth.

Will Power, as the only Team Penske-Chevrolet driver in the Fast Nine, didn’t appear to have the straightline speed.

He commented: “We knew in order to use sixth, that was the only way we were going to beat the Hondas, if we had the speed, but we didn’t. That’s as good as we got. But it’s a long race.” 

1. Scott Dixon                    232.595, 232.135, 232.018, 231.907 = 232.164mph

2. Ed Carpenter                  232.180, 231.912, 231.582, 230.985 = 231.664mph

3. Alexander Rossi             231.843, 231.153, 231.479, 231.475 = 231.487mph

4. Takuma Sato                  232.171, 231.599, 230.929, 230.768 = 231.365mph

5. Fernando Alonso            231.113, 231.440, 231.475, 231.171 = 231.300mph

6. JR Hildebrand                 231.529, 231.010, 230.941, 230.081 = 230.889mph

7. Tony Kanaan                  231.239, 231.016, 230.743, 230.317 = 230.828mph

8. Marco Andretti              230.659, 229.845, 230.631, 230.763 = 230.474mph

9. Will Power                     230.912, 230.017, 229.898, 229.975 = 230.200mph

For positions 10 through 33, click here.