Photo: Gavin Baker Photography / Road to Indy
Christian Rasmussen and Hunter McElrea topped the two Indy Pro 2000 qualifying sessions at Mid-Ohio.
Championship leader Rasmussen put in a lap late in the 20-minute first session to go considerably quicker than the opposition.
He had been at the top through much of Q1 anyway, but his penultimate lap was his best and initially put him half a second up on everyone else.
Exclusive Autosport’s Artem Petrov did find some time on his final effort but still ended up four tenths shy in second place.
Pabst Racing’s McElrea was third, with Jacob Abel half a second off in fourth. Exclusive Autosport’s Braden Eves rounded out the top five ahead of Juncos Racing trio Manuel Sulaiman, Reece Gold and Kyffin Simpson.
McElrea headed Petrov in on Saturday, pipping him to pole by 0.0177s with his final lap. Rasmussen qualified third, 0.1728s off pole, and Gold was fourth. It’s McElrea’s second IP2000 pole in one-and-a-half seasons, having claimed his first in St. Petersburg earlier this year.
In both sessions the 12-car entry list was propped up by Velocity Racing Development’s Hunter Yeany
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Christian Rasmussen JHDD 1m17.5084s
2 Artem Petrov Exclusive Autosport +0.4188s
3 Hunter McElrea Pabst Racing +0.4853s
4 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports +0.5102s
5 Braden Eves Exclusive Autosport +0.5193s
6 Manuel Sulaiman Juncos Racing +0.5950s
7 Reece Gold Juncos Racing +0.6798s
8 Kyffin Simpson Juncos Racing +0.6919s
9 Jack William Miller Miller Vinatieri Motorsports +0.8108s
10 Wyatt Brichacek JHDD +0.8238s
Race 2 grid
1 McElrea 1m18.1600s
2 Petrov +0.0117s
3 Rasmussen +0.1728s
4 Gold +0.2460s
5 Simpson +0.3367s
6 Abel +0.3523s
7 Sulaiman +0.4189s
8 Eves +0.4377s
9 Miller +0.4544s
10 James Roe Jr Turn 3 Motorsport +0.7827s