INDYCAR

500 Miles: Dixon is pole for the fifth time

Scott Dixon is pole position for the 2022 Indianapolis 500. The New Zealander from Ganassi set a spectacular time of 2:33.816 to unseat teammate Álex Palou and secure the position of honor for the second year in a row. It's the fifth time the 2008 winner has taken the lead in the Indy 500. Fastest on Saturday, Carpenter's Rinus VeeKay closes the front row.

Brazilian Tony Kanaan overcame the electronic problems in the car that arose in the afternoon free practice and managed to advance to Fast 6. Even without pole, he will start in sixth position, ahead of Pato O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist, Saturday's highlights and who were only in seventh and eighth places respectively.

The 106th edition of the Indianapolis 500 takes place next Sunday (29), with a start scheduled for 1:30 pm (GMT).

Fast 12 started at 17:00 (Brasília time). As foreseen by the regulations, the worst among the 12 classified was the track first. In this case, it was Takuma Sato, from Dale Coyne. The Japanese man's time was not the most impressive, recording 2min35s393. Championship leader and winner in 2018, Will Power took Penske to the track next. The Australian struggled in the last two laps, and was behind Sato with 2min35s484.

Pole in 2021, Scott Dixon was the first of five Ganassi cars on the track. The New Zealander jumped to first place with a great time of 2min34s169. Andretti's sole representative, Romain Grosjean followed, jumping to second with a time of 2min35s172. The Swede Marcus Ericsson took to the track with Ganassi and beat Grosjean, recording 2min34s396.

Indianapolis specialist Ed Carpenter flew on the first lap, but slightly lost his pace at the end, taking third with 2:34.458. It was the turn of Jimmie Johnson, who had the first lap compromised by avoiding contact with the wall, scoring just 2min35s666, being eliminated.

Finally it was Tony Kanaan's turn, who overcame electronic problems at Ganassi to record 2:34.492, jumping to fourth and eliminating Power from the fray. Kanaan's teammate, Álex Palou scored 2min34s276, jumping to second place and taking Sato out of contention, forming a top-3 for Ganassi.

Then came the chance for Felix Rosenqvist, who didn't repeat Saturday's performance with McLaren, but did enough to take Grosjean out of contention with a time of 2:35.050. The Mexican Pato O'Ward was going strong with McLaren, but he made a mistake on the third lap and was only sixth with 2:34.702, taking Rosenqvist out, but staying in the bubble.

The fastest on Saturday, Rinus VeeKay secured his spot for the Fast Six by setting the second fastest time of the session with 2:34.222. He, Dixon, Palou, Ericsson, Carpenter and Kanaan advanced to Fast Six.

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