St Pete Qualifying: Power signs his 9th pole!

Will Power will be the pole sitter on Sunday for the last start of the seasonIndyCar in Saint-Petersburg.

With a time of 1'01"0369, the Australian from Team Penske scored his 9th pole on the Floridian city car and the 62nd of his career in Indycar. He beat Alexander Red and Colton Herta. 

His teammate, Josef Newgarden, has already lost big in his quest for a third title. For not having pocketed the point awarded to the pole sitter, the American, only eighth in qualifying, must now win the race and hope that Scott Dixon (CGR) finishes higher than ninth place. 

Only eleventh in the qualifying session, the New Zealander did not shine, but with a 32-point margin over his runner-up, a sixth title in the series awaits him. 

.@JimmieJohnson and @dariofranchitti stopped by to congratulate @12WillPower for winning the @GPSTPETE pole.#INDYCAR | #FirestoneGP | @TeamChevy pic.twitter.com/tMPGUC6Rrs

— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) October 24, 2020

On the “frenchy” side, Sébastien Bourdais (AJ Foyt) showed his advantage on a circuit which is successful for him (victories in 2017 and 2018), by setting the 7th fastest time. Less chance for simon pagenaud (Team Penske), who had set the seventh fastest time, but lost control of his No. 22 in the last segment of his last lap.

For causing a red flag, Poitevin lost his best lap and was relegated to 12th and last place in Q2.

The qualifying session was marked by an interruption of almost thirty minutes due to an imbroglio over the penalties imposed on Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) and Felix Rosenqvist (CGR). Announced as eliminated at first, the first finally participated in Q2.

Also note that for his first in the series, Supercars big name Scott McLaughlin, announced on Saturday as the holder of the No. 3 for Team Penske in 2021, will start from 21st place on Sunday, from 19:30 p.m. (HF ).