Pato O’Ward on IndyCar pole in Portland after Christian Lundgaard grid penalty

Christian Lundgaard gained’t lead the sphere to inexperienced Sunday at Portland Worldwide Raceway, however he did prime the charts on Saturday.

Lundgaard laid down a fast time of 58.3939s to prime qualifying for the ultimate street course race of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Sequence season. However he’ll must roll off seventh after being certainly one of three drivers (alongside Josef Newgarden and Santino Ferrucci) to take a fifth engine and be issued a six-place grid penalty for unapproved engine adjustments previous to qualifying.

The tip consequence was a shock for the Dane, given the lap that had earned it. Requested if he thought he was quickest, Lundgaard mentioned “no, truthfully.”

“As I crossed the road, I nonetheless didn’t actually anticipate it,” he continued. “I simply felt like I had an enormous push in flip 5, an enormous push in flip 6. I knew I used to be slower than (in) the Quick 12. I didn’t actually assume that was it.”

Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren

Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Lumen by way of Getty Pictures

Shock apart, the 24-year-old was happy with the hassle. “We had been discussing this, and this was form of best-case state of affairs for us, clearly, with the six-place grid penalty,” he mentioned. “I’m simply pleased with this workforce.”

With Lundgaard set again, it was teammate Pato O’Ward, who adopted in second with a 58.5343s lap, that claimed pole for the BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland. The Mexican star is getting into the weekend second in factors and is hoping to maintain the title battle alive for the ultimate two races in Milwaukee and Nashville.

Will Power, Team Penske

Will Energy, Workforce Penske

Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Lumen by way of Getty Pictures

“I’m proud of this nice qualifying session, and we’ll be main the sphere to inexperienced,” he mentioned. “It’s one of the best view into flip 1. I’m tremendous pleased with the workforce and all of the exhausting work that’s gone into it, as a result of this was actually our hardest street course final yr. Nice step ahead.”

Felix Rosenqvist got here house third and can begin second. Will Energy and David Malukas adopted, with Alex Palou wrapping up the Quick Six.

Palou’s hopes for a championship-clinching weekend suffered a small setback within the last spherical. The Indianapolis 500 winner locked up his brakes and rolled into the tire barrier on a late lap within the session. He’ll roll off fifth after Lundgaard’s penalty.

“I simply tried a bit too exhausting,” Palou mentioned of the shunt. “We wished that pole. We knew that it was going to be tight. I feel I began locking fairly early on after which I couldn’t get the automotive stopped.”

Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing

Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Lumen by way of Getty Pictures

The Quick 12 proved dramatic, with Rosenqvist and Lundgaard leaping atop the charts within the last seconds and Alexander Rossi practically knocking Malukas out. O’Ward, Palou and Energy rounded out the top-five within the session. Malukas superior over Rossi by simply .0163s. Marcus Armstrong, Newgarden and Scott Dixon accomplished the top-10, with Marcus Ericsson and Kyffin Simpson additionally eradicated within the spherical.

Palou led the way in which within the opening group session, advancing alongside Simpson, Energy, Armstrong, Rossi and Malukas. A late purple flag for a crashed Robert Shwartzman made for a dramatic conclusion to the group.

The session resumed to permit groups for one last timed lap and each Rossi and Malukas took benefit, leaping into the top-six whereas knocking out Scott McLaughlin and Ferrucci.

O’Ward topped the charts in Group 2. Ericsson adopted in second, with Newgarden squeaking by way of in third with a last lap after time expired. Dixon, Lundgaard and Rosenqvist additionally superior. Devlin DeFrancesco was knocked out within the closing seconds alongside Colton Herta, Christian Rasmussen and Kyle Kirkwood.

With qualifying full, the IndyCar subject will return to the Portland monitor for last apply at 7:30 p.m. ET, airing on FS1. The BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland will go dwell Sunday on FOX at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Pictures from Portland – Observe & Qualifying