IndyCar | Qualifying | Road America | Foster stuns Palou to claim his first pole - Motorsport

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Qualifying for round 9 of the 2025 IndyCar season at Road America is in the books as the grid has been set, full report and results below.

Round 1, Group 1

Palou, Kirkwood, Dixon, Newgarden, DeFrancesco, O’Ward, Rahal, Siegel, Armstrong, Simpson, Ilott, Shwartzman and Daly were the drivers in the first group as the top 6 would advance.

On the blacks early doors, Josef Newgarden did a 1:47.622 to led Alex Palou by 0.3s. O’Ward went 3rd.

At turn 14 Devlin DeFrancesco had a big trip through the grass as he got massively wide in his RLL car. Luckily for him he did not impede anyone.

With 6 minutes to go, Rahal on a 1:45.258 led the way using the reds. Palou was 2nd on blacks as he did a 1:45.412. Siegel, DeFrancesco, Shwartzman and Simpson rounded out the top 6. Only Siegel was on blacks like the Spaniard.

Dixon, Newgarden, Ilott, Kirkwood, O’Ward, Armstrong and Daly needed to make gains to get in as the big guns in this did not use reds until the second run. The Kiwi was just under eight hundredths behind teammate Simpson.

Once everyone switched to reds, Palou was well clear. A 1:44.477 was over 0.3s clear of Graham Rahal. Dixon and Ilott were within the same tenth of the RLL driver.

O’Ward and Kirkwood squeaked through as Josef Newgarden was the big name to fall. The Penske driver missed out by 0.017s as Rahal and Dixon stood up with big laps right at the death.

Siegel, Armstrong, Shwartzman, DeFrancesco, Daly and Simpson also got knocked out.

However, there was a sensational twist as Scott Dixon lost his time for blocking Devlin DeFrancesco as the Canadian was on a push lap. The Kiwi was on an out lap before starting his run.

It promoted Josef Newgarden who made it through to the Fast 12 in the end.

IndyCar Round 1, Group 1 qualifying results at Road America

Palou
Rahal
Ilott
O’Ward
Kirkwood
Newgarden
Siegel
Armstrong
Shwartzman
DeFrancesco
Daly
Simpson
Dixon

Round 1, Group 2

Lundgaard, Power, Herta, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci, McLaughlin, VeeKay, Malukas, Foster, Rasmussen, Ericsson, Abel, Rossi and Robb ran in this group

After shocking practice troubles, Alex Rossi went for softs immediately as he had no pace on Friday and Saturday morning. Robb, Abel, Ericsson, Rasmussen and Foster also put on reds immediately.

The latest driver to go off at turn 14 was Christian Rasmussen as he got wide and took a trip through the grass and gravel.

A 1:45.142 from Louis Foster saw him lead halfway through, with Rosenqvist, Ericsson, Ferrucci, Rossi and Herta completed the top 6. Before boxing for a second set of reds, Rasmussen moved himself into P4.

Herta, Power, McLaughlin, Malukas, Robb, Abel, Lundgaard and VeeKay needed to improve to advance.

Despite a few relatively messy moments, a 1:44.740 from Christian Lundgaard put him into P1 as the chequered flag fell and the last laps happened. McLaughlin, Malukas and Power all put in big laps at the end to go P2, P3 and P4. They were covered by 0.106s. Rosenqvist and Foster also made it through as they did low 1:45.1s.

Ericsson, Herta, Ferrucci, Rasmussen, VeeKay, Rossi, Robb and Abel got bumped out. Herta and Ferrucci were the big surprises after strong pace in FP2 on Saturday morning.

IndyCar Round 1, Group 2 qualifying results at Road America

Lundgaard
McLaughlin
Malukas
Power
Rosenqvist
Foster
Ericsson
Herta
Ferrucci
Rasmussen
VeeKay
Rossi
Robb
Abel

Round 2

Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Malukas, Power, Rosenqvist, Foster, Palou, Rahal, Ilott, O’Ward, Kirkwood and Newgarden contested this segment.

A 1:45.370 from Pato O’Ward saw him lead Foster, Palou, Kirkwood, Rahal and Newgarden as drivers went with a mix of reds and blacks before everyone went to new softs at the end.

McLaughlin, Malukas, Rosenqvist, Power, Lundgaard and Ilott needed to find time to get themselves in.

Once again Alex Palou led the way on reds as he did a 1:44.628, pipping Christian Lundgaard by 0.069s. The star of the session was Louis Foster as the Brit did a stunning 1:44.764 to book his spot in the Fast 6. McLaughlin, Kirkwood and Rahal also advanced.

David Malukas missed out by 0.040s but will start a strong P7. Power, Ilott, Newgarden, O’Ward and Rosenqvist got bumped as lots of big names failed to make the Fast 6. The Swede was on a good lap but had a horrible run onto the back straight after a moment on entry cost him dearly.

Two RLL drivers making it through after a brutal run at Gateway is a fine bounce back.

IndyCar Round 2 qualifying results at Road America

Palou
Lundgaard
Foster
McLaughlin
Kirkwood
Rahal
Malukas
Power
Ilott
Newgarden
O’Ward
Rosenqvist

Fast 6

Palou, Lundgaard, Foster, McLaughlin, Kirkwood and Rahal were left to battle it out for pole.

Down at turn 8, Scott McLaughlin got wide as he did one push lap before returning to the pits for a fresh set of tyres.

Using the blacks, a 1:45.487 from Graham Rahal put him to the top of the charts with 3 minutes to go. Kyle Kirkwood hit the track late as Andretti had concerns with his MGU.

After Alex Palou did a 1:44.649 to go P1, a stonking 1:44.514 from Louis Foster went to pole. Although the Spaniard improved by a couple of hundredths on his next attempt, it was only good enough for P2.

The Brit made the difference in the final three corners to take a stunning maiden pole in his rookie IndyCar season.

Kirkwood did a fine lap to place 3rd after his scare, with McLaughlin, Lundgaard and Rahal completing the top 6.