Marco Andretti wrestled his way to the front of the field for today’s first of two qualifying sessions at this weekend’s Detroit Double on the streets of Belle Isle. The No. 98 Honda of Andretti Autosport was one of the eight Honda-powered IndyCars that dominated the session.
The third-generation racing driver managed to sneak to the top of the timesheets despite it being Robert Wickens and Scott Dixon who lapped the temporary racing circuit the fastest for most of the session. In the end, Andretti laid down a lap time of 1:14.851 when it counted the most.
Dixon and Wickens will start in second and third place, with Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and this year’s Indy 500 winner Will Power rounding up the top six.
Chevrolet only managed to claim two spots within the top 10 at its own home race, leading us to believe that they will be more than motivated to charge forward during the race.
“I’m definitely embarrassed to say that this is my first [road-street pole], but I’ve been outside pole so many times on road and street courses,” Andretti said. “Extremely pleased to execute today. I think yesterday I knew we had the speed…so I knew we had it in the car. All I had to do was execute, and I was able to do that instead of just talking, ‘Oh we would have been first.’ Now we are.”
Detroit’s proximity to Canada makes this Wickens’ James Hinchcliffe’s second home race, with the latter enjoying a strong presence of fans in Detroit. The Canadian, who missed out on the 2018 Indy 500, will start in ninth place.