Helio Castroneves continued the ominous qualifying form of the powerful Team Penske fleet by securing pole position for Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix.
Castroneves, who was on pole for the previous round at Phoenix, produced a 1:07.12s best to ace the Fast Six that comprised the quartet of Penske runners.
It was the second successive pole at the time-honoured street course venue for the Brazilian after his record lap last year.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (1:07.44s) was second while Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske) will start from third.
Dixon’s team-mate Tony Kanaan was fourth best in what amounted to a chaotic session.
Juan Montoya and Will Power completed the front three rows.
The session was red flagged with just over two minutes remaining when Power locked up at the end of the long straight, subsequently leaving him without a timed lap.
Earlier a timing issue caused a delay to the final make-up of the Fast Six with James Hinchcliffe initially thought to have been fourth but once the data was re-evaluated he was seventh.
See below for final qualification
Position |
Driver |
Time |
Session |
1 |
Helio Castroneves |
1:07.12 |
Round 3/Fast Six |
2 |
Scott Dixon |
1:07.44 |
Round 3/Fast Six |
3 |
Simon Pagenaud |
1:07.74 |
Round 3/Fast Six |
4 |
Tony Kanaan |
1:07.79 |
Round 3/Fast Six |
5 |
Juan Montoya |
1:07.90 |
Round 3/Fast Six |
6 |
Will Power |
No Time |
Round 3/Fast Six |
7 |
James Hinchcliffe |
1:07.14 |
Elimination Round 2/Top 12 |
8 |
Takuma Sato |
1:07.22 |
Elimination Round 2/Top 12 |
9 |
Josef Newgarden |
1:07.25 |
Elimination Round 2/Top 12 |
10 |
Carlos Munoz |
1:07.26 |
Elimination Round 2/Top 12 |
11 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
1:07.31 |
Elimination Round 2/Top 12 |
12 |
Luca Filippi |
1:07.96 |
Elimination Round 2/Top 12 |
13 |
Conor Daly |
1:07.75 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 1 |
14 |
Sebastien Bourdais |
1:07.64 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 2 |
15 |
Charlie Kimball |
1:07.80 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 1 |
16 |
Alex Rossi |
1:07.68 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 2 |
17 |
Graham Rahal |
1:07.88 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 1 |
18 |
Mikhail Aleshin |
1:07.85 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 2 |
19 |
Max Chilton |
1:07.38 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 1 |
20 |
Jack Hawksworth |
1:07.99 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 2 |
21 |
Marco Andretti |
1:08.20 |
Elimination Round 1/Group 2 |