Indy 500: Pole won by Alex Palow, set a new record

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassy Racing driver and 2021 IndyCar Champion leading driver this season, has made a serious bid for the Indy 500 next Sunday in Indianapolis.

When it was after midnight in Moscow, on the famous oval circuit, also called the “old brick house”, Palou was the best in the confrontation with five other riders who passed into the “Fast Six”, i.e. to the final shooting.

The Spanish rider completed his run of four fast laps at an average speed of 234.217 mph. In kilometers per hour, his result generally looks fantastic – 376,936! And this is a new record in Indy 500 history.

Last year Alex started the Indy 500 from second position, but this time he won the pole because no one could match his result.

While Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeKay was even faster on laps 2 and 3 of his series, laps 1 and 4 were worse than Palou’s, and even a minimal lead of 0.006 mph was enough to keep Alex on pole.

Felix Rosenquist, Arrow McLaren’s third best driver, has been very consistent this weekend; Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing), Pato O’Ward, another McLaren representative, and Scott Dixon, Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, will start the race from the second row.

“This success means a lot to me! And also for our team and for everyone in general, – commented the lucky pole winner. – We understood that the fight would be very sharp – and it happened, but the team prepared a very fast car for me, so today I’m just happy!

We knew we had to dial aggressive settings to get a good first round and show consistent results after that. In the fourth lap it was already very difficult to maintain such a speed, but we managed to do it. I understood it was worth it, although we only had one chance.

Now we will fight for victory, we will continue to work, although the race is still far away. It promises to be tough, so now we have to enjoy the pole position, celebrate the qualifying win with the team and we’ll see!”