Simon Pagenaud claimed pole position for the Toronto IndyCar race as Scott Dixon spun on his final fast lap.
Pagenaud squeezed in a 58.429s lap around the 1.78-mile street course, reaching the line just before the session ended.
Dixon, who had led for much of the final ‘fast six’ session, kept his time as his spin – which came at the start of what would have been his final flying lap – did not bring out a red flag.
The five-time champion’s best time was just under two-tenths of a second slower than Pagenaud’s, and was good enough for second on the grid.
His Chip Ganassi Racing team mate Felix Rosenqvist will line up third on the grid, one spot ahead of championship contender Alexander Rossi who failed to move further up the grid after running wide and brushing a wall on his final timed lap.
Points leader Josef Newgarden was another to hit a wall and will start Sunday’s race from fifth on the grid, one spot ahead of Ed Jones – who made the top six in qualifying for the third time this season.
Despite showing strong pace in the first two qualifying sessions, Marco Andretti narrowly missed out on the fast six and will start seventh, ahead of two-time Toronto winner Sebastien Bourdais and Spencer Pigot.
Takuma Sato completed the top 10, with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal the other two drivers whose day ended after the second round of qualifying.
A notable absentee from the latter stages of qualifying was Will Power, who missed out on the top 12 for the first time in four years as he failed to grapple with his Chevrolet-powered Dallara’s set-up.
He will start one place ahead of fellow 2019 race winner Colton Herta, who lines up 16th.
Ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson will also start towards the rear of the field after making contact with the wall and damaging his suspension during an early timed lap attempt.
Provisional starting grid
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 58.4293s | – |
2 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 58.5948s | 0.1655s |
3 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 58.6793s | 0.2500s |
4 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 58.9215s | 0.4922s |
5 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 59.3103s | 0.8810s |
6 | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 59.5353s | 1.1060s |
7 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 58.7663s | 0.3370s |
8 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 58.7781s | 0.3488s |
9 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 58.8221s | 0.3928s |
10 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 58.9110s | 0.4817s |
11 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 59.0444s | 0.6151s |
12 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 59.0985s | 0.6692s |
13 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 59.4811s | 1.0518s |
14 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 58.9293s | 0.5000s |
15 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 59.5508s | 1.1215s |
16 | Colton Herta | Harding Racing | Dallara/Honda | 59.0549s | 0.6256s |
17 | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 59.9761s | 1.5468s |
18 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 59.2890s | 0.8597s |
19 | Matheus Leist | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m00.1853s | 1.7560s |
20 | Marcus Ericsson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 59.6299s | 1.2006s |
21 | Sage Karam | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m01.1134s | 2.6841s |
22 | Tony Kanaan | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 59.7317s | 1.3024s |