Pato O'Ward has 'no explanation' for performance in Portland IndyCar qualifying result
Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward has 'no explanation' to his strong qualifying performance which puts him on pole for tomorrow's race.
2025 championship contender, Pato O'Ward, was surprised by his performance in qualifying at the IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland which will see him start on pole in tomorrow's race.
Fastest in Group One early on in the session, O'Ward appeared throughout qualifying as one of the top runners for the top spot despite looking to be lacking back in earlier practice sessions.
On provisional pole in the Fast Six, O'Ward was beaten to P1 by his teammate, Christian Lundgaard, but the Dane will start seventh after a unapproved engine change relegates him down the grid.
Although happy to be leading the pack away for the race, O'Ward seemed visibly confused by the result.
"It's a bit of a surprising qualifying considering where we were in practice", O'Ward began.
"We're still inching away and trying to make it better, [there's] so much changes in a year.
"Chris [Lundgaard] did great job on getting the fastest lap time there and we did it back to back to back on all three qualifying sessions.
"I was super happy with that and the car just came alive. I don't really have an explanation. "
During both practice sessions, O'Ward seemed to be lack the outright pace his competitors had and finished in Practice One in ninth and Practice Two in 11th.
Lundgaard was the fastest in Practice One but opted for a new engine before Practice Two and finished seventh in the session.
O'Ward reflected after qualifying on what made the difference between the sessions and shrugged off that set-up changes might have helped and instead focussed on the tyres.
"We didn't really change anything from practice but it's just sometimes that's the story with these Firestone tires", O'Ward explained.
"I'm happy with this great qualifying session and we'll be leading the field to green so it's the best view in the turn one.
"[I'm] super proud of the team and all the hard work that's gone into it because this was really our toughest road course last year so great step forward."
O'Ward finished 15th in last years Portland Grand Prix behind Lundgaard who finished 13th.
Nolan Siegel, who will start Sunday's race in 18th, finished 21st in 2024.
In a fight to keep his championship hopes alive, O'Ward starts four places in front of Alex Palou who looks to wrap up the championship this weekend.
Leading by 121 points, Palou needs to leave this weekend with a 108 point lead in order to take the championship home from Portland but has so far got off to a bad start.
Palou will start fifth after he qualified sixth and last in the Fast Six.
Originally fourth in the session, a lock up into Turn 12 saw the champion-elect go into the wall.
Bringing out a yellow, Palou's lap time was deleted which demoted him to the back of the field.
If O'Ward wins and Palou finished in fifth, the championship will roll onto Milwaukee.
