{"id":307975,"date":"2026-03-01T12:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/307975\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T12:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:50:19","slug":"indycar-news-mclaughlin-scores-third-st-petersburg-pole-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/307975\/","title":{"rendered":"IndyCar news: McLaughlin scores third St Petersburg pole position"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"McLaughlin
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tScott McLaughlin celebrates taking pole position for the IndyCar Series at St Petersburg. <\/p>\n

It almost wasn\u2019t to be for the #3 Team Penske Chevrolet, setting the fifth fastest time in the first round of qualifying to make the top six cut-off.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin was quickest in the second round of qualifying and the Fast Six to secure top spot for Monday morning\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

The New Zealander put 0.0195s on Andretti Global\u2019s Marcus Ericsson.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin praised his new race engineer Raul Prados, who has stepped in to replace Ben Bretzman, who has been appointed Team Penske engineering manager of competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I need to move to Florida. I don\u2019t know what it is. I love this place. Great way to start our year,\u201d said McLaughlin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did this last year, and I proceeded to have the worst year of my life. I\u2019m just focused on execution tomorrow and the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to watch the Adelaide Motorsport Festival live stream. Heading in? Click here<\/a> to purchase tickets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one little step. Just really proud of the execution because I felt like we nearly actually missed Q1.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were right on the buffer there, and the car was terrible. It was nice to tune it up and get it right and then it become one of my favorite cars I\u2019ve had around here.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a testament to Raul [Prados] and the camaraderie that we\u2019ve built already and the understanding for each other, and that can only grow from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The top six was completed by standout rookie Dennis Hauger for Dale Coyne Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing\u2019s four-time champion Alex Palou, Team Penske newcomer David Malukas, and series returnee Romain Grosjean in the other Dale Coyne Racing car.<\/p>\n

Marcus Armstrong narrowly missed out on the top six shootout. He will start from seventh in the leading Meyer Shank Racing entry.<\/p>\n

Compatriot Scott Dixon was 16th for Ganassi. It was the first time since 2013 that he missed the second leg of qualifying at St Petersburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it cooked the rear tyre,\u201d Dixon explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same thing I\u2019ve been struggling with this morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday the car was pretty good until I had my unfortunate incident there. Then the harder I tried to push to gain the time, especially on rear combined, it would just slide.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we were through until I tried to go a little bit deeper in Turn 10, carried the speed, lost the rear then right before the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating. It\u2019s pretty tight, but the car, when you\u2019re not at maximum attack is pretty good, so we\u2019ll see how it rolls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Power was 13th in his first qualifying with Andretti Global. Power and Dixon were both high profile victims of the St Petersburg concrete barriers in practice.<\/p>\n

The most surprising result was Josef Newgarden, who was only 23rd in the 25-car field with the slowest time in his group.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot ideal,\u201d said Newgarden.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of traffic when we came out. I didn\u2019t want to hold anybody up and honestly I think that\u2019s what bit us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sequencing was all off. I felt good on blacks (hard compound tyre). I\u2019ve been struggling with brakes all weekend and I felt like we got on top of that finally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe car was really good, just unfortunate to not put something together there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s race gets underway at 4:30am AEDT with coverage live and exclusively on Stan Sport.<\/p>\n

Results: IndyCar Series Grand Prix of St Petersburg, Qualifying<\/p>\n

Pos
\nNum
\nDriver
\nTeam
\nLaps
\nLap
\nDiff
\nGap<\/p>\n

1
\n3
\nScott McLaughlin
\nTeam Penske
\n22
\n1:00.5426<\/p>\n

2
\n28
\nMarcus Ericsson
\nAndretti Global
\n21
\n1:00.5621
\n0.0195
\n0.0195<\/p>\n

3
\n19
\nDennis Hauger
\nDale Coyne Racing
\n18
\n1:00.5743
\n0.0317
\n0.0122<\/p>\n

4
\n10
\nAlex Palou
\nChip Ganassi Racing
\n20
\n1:00.6842
\n0.1416
\n0.1099<\/p>\n

5
\n12
\nDavid Malukas
\nTeam Penske
\n21
\n1:00.7638
\n0.2212
\n0.0796<\/p>\n

6
\n18
\nRomain Grosjean
\nDale Coyne Racing
\n21
\n1:01.3462
\n0.8036
\n0.5824<\/p>\n

7
\n66
\nMarcus Armstrong
\nMeyer Shank w\/ Curb-Agajanian
\n16
\n1:00.7820
\n0.2386
\n0.0368<\/p>\n

8
\n5
\nPato O\u2019Ward
\nArrow McLaren
\n17
\n1:00.8863
\n0.3429
\n0.1043<\/p>\n

9
\n45
\nLouis Foster
\nRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
\n12
\n1:00.9472
\n0.4038
\n0.0609<\/p>\n

10
\n8
\nKyffin Simpson
\nChip Ganassi Racing
\n18
\n1:00.9811
\n0.4377
\n0.0339<\/p>\n

11
\n60
\nFelix Rosenqvist
\nMeyer Shank w\/ Curb-Agajanian
\n18
\n1:00.9840
\n0.4406
\n0.0029<\/p>\n

12
\n7
\nChristian Lundgaard
\nArrow McLaren
\n16
\n1:00.9842
\n0.4408
\n0.0002<\/p>\n

13
\n26
\nWill Power
\nAndretti Global
\n9
\n1:01.1936
\n0.3679
\n0.0696<\/p>\n

14
\n21
\nChristian Rasmussen
\nEd Carpenter Racing
\n9
\n1:01.1835
\n0.6036
\n0.0129<\/p>\n

15
\n27
\nKyle Kirkwood
\nAndretti Global w\/ Curb-Agajanian
\n9
\n1:01.2308
\n0.4051
\n0.0372<\/p>\n

16
\n9
\nScott Dixon
\nChip Ganassi Racing
\n9
\n1:01.2109
\n0.631
\n0.0274<\/p>\n

17
\n14
\nSantino Ferrucci
\nAJ Foyt Racing
\n8
\n1:01.2630
\n0.4373
\n0.0322<\/p>\n

18
\n15
\nGraham Rahal
\nRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
\n8
\n1:01.2257
\n0.6458
\n0.0148<\/p>\n

19
\n76
\nRinus VeeKay
\nJuncos Hollinger Racing
\n8
\n1:01.3719
\n0.5462
\n0.1089<\/p>\n

20
\n77
\nSting Ray Robb
\nJuncos Hollinger Racing
\n8
\n1:01.3666
\n0.7867
\n0.1409<\/p>\n

21
\n47
\nMick Schumacher
\nRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
\n8
\n1:01.3983
\n0.5726
\n0.0264<\/p>\n

22
\n6
\nNolan Siegel
\nArrow McLaren
\n9
\n1:01.4498
\n0.8699
\n0.0832<\/p>\n

23
\n2
\nJosef Newgarden
\nTeam Penske
\n9
\n1:01.4174
\n0.5917
\n0.0191<\/p>\n

24
\n4
\nCaio Collet
\nAJ Foyt Racing
\n8
\n1:01.5719
\n0.992
\n0.1221<\/p>\n

25
\n20
\nAlexander Rossi
\nEd Carpenter Racing
\n8
\n1:01.6031
\n1.0232
\n0.0312<\/p>\n


\"\"\/
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