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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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