dailyloe.com – Alex Palou won the NTT P1 Award for the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, marking his third consecutive pole position in this event. He finished with a top lap of 1 minute, 9.7487 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou’s victory represents a gap of more than half a second over his competitors.
This pole adds to Palou’s achievements, bringing his career total to 14 poles. It is also his second pole of the current season, having previously secured the top spot at Barber Motorsports Park in March. Palou aims for his fourth consecutive victory in this race, having won from the pole in both 2024 and 2025.
“It’s tough to get the car in good windows like these guys have been doing,” Palou stated. He expressed satisfaction with the performance of his car, saying, “Very happy to get that No. 10 on the pole once again here. The car was amazing.” The race, consisting of 85 laps, is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. ET on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
Palou demonstrated his dominance throughout the weekend by leading both practice sessions on Friday and all rounds of qualifying. His qualifying time advantage of .5475 seconds over the second-place qualifier is the largest margin of the season across six events. Pato O’Ward qualified second with a time of 1:10.2962 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
O’Ward commented on his performance turnaround, stating, “My team turned it around for me, so I’ve got to thank them.” He had previously struggled during practice sessions, finishing 15th and 19th in the two sessions held on Friday. Felix Rosenqvist secured third place with a time of 1:10.4548 in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian, while Christian Lundgaard qualified fourth at 1:10.4751 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
