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Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward will be starting the 2025 Thermal Club IndyCar GP in pole position after a disappointing qualifying session last time around at St. Pete. The Mexican set a lap time of 1:39:956 to take the pole position. His teammate Christian Lundgaard was two-tenths slower than O’Ward and will start P2, making it a McLaren front-row lockout.
The IndyCar drivers will be taking to the Thermal Club circuit for the first time on Sunday for an IndyCar championship race. The 65-lap race will be held around the 3.067-mile-long, 17-turn track.
Alex Palou topped the first practice session on Friday with a lap time of 01:40:5486. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson rounded the Top 3. Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard topped the second practice session with Palou and Ericsson continuing their strong performance in practice one to finish P2 and P3 respectively.
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The Groups were then decided depending on the practice 2 timings divided into Group 1 and Group 2.
2025 Thermal Club IndyCar Qualifying Highlights
Scott McLaughlin spun on his banker lap in the first couple of minutes of Group 1’s first session and was given a drive-through penalty for causing a caution flag. David Malukas set the fastest banker lap with a lap time of 1:40:330, which was then the fastest lap time of the weekend.
Alex Palou continued his strong run to top Group 1 in the first session. Felix Rosenqvist, Scott Dixon, Marcus Armstrong, David Malukas, and Kyle Kirkwood qualified for the next session. However, the biggest shock came when all three Team Penske cars failed to make it into the second session.
Josef Newgarden ran wide on his final lap and wasn't able to complete it, whereas Scott McLaughlin and Will Power were sliding all around the place.
Robert Shwartzman, who didn't complete a single lap this weekend because of burnt components, received a penalty midway through Group 2 first session for speeding into the pitlane.
Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard topped Group 2 followed by Colton Herta, Pato O'Ward, Alexander Rossi, Louis Foster, and Marcus Ericsson, who moved to the next session. Nolan Siegel and Graham Rahal were the shock exits in the first session.
Alex Palou blocked Pato O'Ward midway through the second session with race control taking the incident into review. With no further action, the Spaniard continued his dominance and topped the second session. O’Ward finished P2 with teammate Lundgaard completing the Top 3.
Ericsson, Rossi, and Herta were the other three drivers to move to the Fast 6. Andretti's Kyle Kirkwood and Scott Dixon failed to move to the next session.
Pato O'Ward set the fastest lap in the Fast 6 to take the pole position. Christian Lundgaard finished behind him to make it an Arrow McLaren 1-2. Alex Palou had a subpar banker run and failed to improve on the final run and pitted. Herta and Ericsson completed the Top 5 with Rossi starting P6.
Pato O'Ward takes pole position for the 2025 Thermal Club IndyCar Race
Pato O'Ward had a strong start to the IndyCar weekend finishing both the practice sessions in the Top 6. The performance in the first and second qualifying sessions was optimal as the Mexican finished P3 and P2 respectively.
The Arrow McLaren driver was able to string together a strong lap on his only run in the Fast 6 to take the pole position. Speaking with FOX Sports after the qualifying session, O’Ward said:
“I knew if we could get the car to my liking, I would get it done. I got to thank the guys. We've been working hard. Coming back here, we haven't had the best of weekends in the past. But we turned it around, we dialed it in after Q1 because I was somewhat happy with it but not perfect. We just made a little bit of an adjustment. As soon as we went out in Q2, I said 'I have got this.'”
Starting Order for the 2025 Thermal Club IndyCar Race
- P1 #5 Pato O'Ward: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
- P2 #7 Christian Lundgaard: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
- P3 #10 Alex Palou: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
- P4 #26 Colton Herta: Andretti Global Honda
- P5 #28 Marcus Ericsson: Andretti Global Honda
- P6 #20 Alexander Rossi: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
- P7 #66 Marcus Armstrong: Meyer Shank Racing Honda
- P8 #27 Kyle Kirkwood: Andretti Global Honda
- P9 #60 Felix Rosenqvist: Meyer Shank Racing Honda
- P10 #45 Louis Foster: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
- P11 #9 Scott Dixon: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
- P12 #4 David Malukas: AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
- P13 #18 Rinus VeeKay: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
- P14 #14 Santino Ferrucci: AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
- P15 #76 Conor Daly: Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
- P16 #6 Nolan Siegel: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
- P17 #2 Josef Newgarden: Team Penske Chevrolet
- P18 #15 Graham Rahal: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
- P19 #21 Christian Rasmussen: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
- P20 #8 Kyffin Simpson: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
- P21 #12 Will Power: Team Penske Chevrolet
- P22 #90 Callum Ilott: PREMA Racing Chevrolet
- P23 #51 Jacob Abel: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
- P24 # 77: Sting Ray Robb: Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
- P25 #3 Scott McLaughlin: Team Penske Chevrolet
- P26 #30 Devlin DeFrancesco: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
- P27 #83 Robert Shwartzman: PREMA Racing Chevrolet
