That left Hinchcliffe as the final driver to qualify, and just over a year after a practice-session crash resulted in life-threatening injuries, “Hinch” produced a four-lap average speed of 230.760 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis oval to claim the pole for himself, his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team, and Honda. “I try to remind myself it’s not just about today’s battle, it’s about the war, and we’ve got to try and get that done next week in the 500”. Former 500 victor Ryan Hunter-Reay will start outside on the front row.
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Hinchcliffe now joins a growing list of Indy 500 personalities with their own stories to tell. After Montoya failed to make the shootout, Power, three-time race victor Helio Castroneves and points leader Simon Pagenaud all struggled Sunday.
Newgarden and Hunter-Reay, the 2014 race champ and one of Hinchcliffe’s former teammates with Andretti Autosport, both congratulated the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver. “If we keep that trend up we’re looking pretty good heading for Memorial Day”.
Row 2 next Sunday will be comprised of Townsend Bell, Carlos Munoz and Will Power.
“Winning the pole would’ve been badass”, Newgarden said.
A veritable fairytale story for the Canadian, Hinchcliffe was left fighting for his life at Indianapolis previous year after a high speed smash left him with a series of injuries and putting him out for the remainder of the 2015 season.
Schmidt’s second driver, Russian Mikhail Aleshin, posted the seventh-fastest speed and will start on the inside of the third row.
He did, but it wasn’t until the final lap that Hinchcliffe was able to confirm the pole position. “When you kind of take a step back and let yourself think about it a little bit, it does feel good”.
Defending 500 champ Juan Pablo Montoya will start 17th after a freaky sequence in which he ran over a trash bag during his qualifying attempt.
Power was the best of the group and will start sixth. It held up to challenges from four drivers before Hinchcliffe, the final driver on track at 5:44, topped it with a four-lap run of 230.760 miles per hour. He drove the vehicle into the pits where team members checked his auto.
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“Whoever is spotting in Turn 3 is probably not paying attention”, Montoya said. “I think the wing mount or something bent with the force of the bag, and when I went out again the aero balance was really off”. I just hit it and lost all of the front air from under the auto. I got on the brakes, trying not to hit the wall. “But immediately I started thinking, ‘Look, this is about the war”. Luckily, we got another run, but they didn’t let us check the vehicle.
