Rahal and Newgarden put to back of GP of Indianapolis IndyCar grid
Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden have lost their top five qualifying positions for IndyCar's Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the track's road course after their cars were deemed underweight
Rahal's Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara-Honda and Newgarden's Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet fall from third and fifth respectively to 24th and 25th having failed to comply with rule 14.3.1.1 of the IndyCar Series regulations.
The rule states a car must weight a minimum of 1610 pounds on the road/street courses and short ovals including all lubricants, coolants, camera and dummy camera housings.
Rahal declined to comment when asked for his reaction to the penalty.
Before it was issued, he had been encouraged by his top-three performance in what has so far been a tough season for Honda.
"It was a good run for us," Rahal said after qualifying.
"To start third is going to be a good battle for us up front.
"I don't think it's necessarily like there's a massive amount of power but the guys have just kept their heads down and worked hard.
"It's a combination of power and aero.
"Honda have had their backs up against the wall.
"Everybody has been very critical of them. We've tried to lead the charge for them.
"Seeing three Hondas in the top six, that's probably the first time that's happened in a few years. It's great to see."
Newgarden had also been upbeat after his qualification effort.
"It's always good when you get to the fast six," he said.
"It was a little surprise to us. Not that I don't have supreme confidence in what we can do. It's just this has been a tough place for us. It's kind of a unique track to find speed.
"I think we made a good step this weekend. I feel like we're already much better than we've been the last couple of years."
The penalties elevate James Hinchcliffe, Jack Hawksworth and Tony Kanaan into third, fourth and fifth places.
Championship leader Simon Pagenaud starts from pole.
REVISED STARTING GRID
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m08.6868s | - |
2 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m08.9816s | 0.2948s |
3 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.2260s | 0.5392s |
4 | Jack Hawksworth | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.5141s | 0.8273s |
5 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.2511s | - |
6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.2645s | - |
7 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.4010s | - |
8 | Sebastien Bourdais | KVSH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.4436s | - |
9 | Mikhail Aleshin | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.6771s | - |
10 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.9297s | - |
11 | Max Chilton | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.3289s | - |
12 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.1475s | - |
13 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.4947s | - |
14 | Matthew Brabham | Team Murray | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.2944s | - |
15 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.5276s | - |
16 | J.R. Hildebrand | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m09.4377s | - |
17 | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.6457s | - |
18 | Spencer Pigot | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.4591s | - |
19 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.7478s | - |
20 | Takuma Sato | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.4659s | - |
21 | Alex Tagliani | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 1m10.4109s | - |
22 | Conor Daly | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.4795s | - |
23 | Gabby Chaves | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m09.7720s | - |
24 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | - | - |
25 | Josef Newgarden | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | - | - |
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