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Arrow McLAREN Grand Prix of Portland: Qualifying Report

"It’s the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and you can still have a pretty good day starting anywhere"

Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team logo

The Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team had a strong start to the day, seeing the cars within tenths of a second of each other in Practice 2.

Changing track conditions during qualifying, derailed the success in the morning session, leaving the drivers ending qualifying P18, P23 and P24.

There is a long way to go on Sunday, but the team is confident in each of the car's race pace.

Read the thoughts of the drivers and Team Principal Gavin Ward after a busy Saturday at Portland International Raceway.

Race Date Saturday, August 25
Rounds 15 of 17
Total Laps 110 Laps
Total Race Distance 216.04 miles / 347.68 km
Length 1.96 miles / 3.16 km
Number of Turns 12
Alexander Rossi
Practice 2 58.9525 P5 19 laps
Qualifying - Round 1, Group 2 58.6822 P9  
Qualifying Result   P18  
Final Practice 59.5408 P11 24 laps

"I don't know what to say. We were really good in both practice sessions, and it resulted in nothing in qualifying. I wouldn't have changed anything with the balance or execution, there was just no performance to be had."

Pato O'Ward
Practice 2 58.9690 P6 28 laps
Qualifying - Round 1, Group 2 58.7903 P12  
Qualifying Result   P23  
Final Practice 59.5228 P10 28 laps

"I don't know what was going on with the Firestone Alternate tires, because the car didn't feel horrible with the Firestone Primaries. It felt like the car never switched on with the alternates. I don't know if it was because of how we brought them in or having to back down when some of the cars in front of us slowed down and got us off sequence. That session was obviously a handful. There was just no pace in it at all; I couldn't really get it out of the car. There's not much more I could've done or I would've been spinning. It's a bummer, because I thought we had a chance for at least the Firestone Fast 6, if not the pole, but we just couldn't get the car to switch on."

Nolan Siegel
Practice 2 59.1485 P8 22 laps
Qualifying - Round 1, Group 2 58.8205 P12  
Qualifying Result   P18  
Final Practice 59.5942 P11 21 laps

"We felt pretty strong pace-wise in practice, and thought we had a good shot at transferring. We got a pretty clean run in, and nothing really went wrong; we were just lacking pace. Obviously, it’s not a stellar day, and we’ll have to keep searching to find more. I don’t know how much strategizing there will be with this race. We’ll have to see, but I’ll be learning, see what I can do and will be hoping to make up similar ground to last week in Gateway."

Gavin Ward, Team Principal, Arrow McLaren, said:

"It was a strange day. We’re not 100% sure what went wrong for us in qualifying, but we definitely didn’t have the pace anymore with the changes on the track from practice to qualifying. Racing is a complicated game, and if we all had it figured out, you wouldn’t see missteps like this when things turn on its head a little bit. At the end of the day, we will try to learn from it and be a better race team. One thing is for sure, it’s the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and you can still have a pretty good day starting anywhere. Our focus is on a strong race."

Session Times

Tune In Sunday, August 25 3:00 p.m. ET USA Network
Green Flag Sunday, August 25 3:30 p.m. ET USA Network