PORTLAND, Oregon — Steady speed throughout an open test and two practice sessions has Marco Andretti optimistic about qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portland later today.
“I just like our pace,” said Andretti, whose Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian entry ranked fourth on Friday’s speed chart. “I want to try to go for the pole.”
That would be a first in his career on a permanent road course. His top lap in the No. 98 MilitaryToMotorsports.com / Curb Honda on Portland International Raceway’s 12-turn, 1.964-mile layout was 57.4668 seconds (123.035 mph). That’s a fraction of a second off the pace of practice leader Sebastien Bourdais, whose best lap in the No. 18 Gorilla Automotive Products Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan was 57.3975 seconds (123.183 mph).
But Andretti must also overcome other usual suspects, including Team Penske’s Will Power (53 career poles), four-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing, and Andretti Autosport teammate Alexander Rossi.
“We have to execute when it counts,” Andretti said. “We got our first street course pole at Detroit. It would be nice to get my first road course pole here.”
A third practice session is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET Saturday. Qualifying is Saturday at 6:20 p.m. ET. All sessions will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com, youtube.com/indycar and the INDYCAR Mobile app. A same-day qualifying telecast airs at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on NBCSN.
In a frustrating season where the 31-year-old son of team owner Michael Andretti has had more lows than highs, he did celebrate that pole for June 2’s first Chevrolet Dual in Detroit race. That led to a season-best finish of fourth.
He arrived this weekend 11th in the points, just one spot better than a year ago, and certainly not where Andretti aspires to be. That’s especially true when considering teammates Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay are second and fifth in the points.
But Andretti has seen recent signs of encouragement amid the less-than-desired end results.
“We’ve run pretty good on road and street courses all year, and we finally got our oval stuff going at Gateway a little bit,” he said of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500, a race held in Madison, Illinois. “We got caught out by a yellow or otherwise we’re top five or top six (instead of 14th).
“It’s kind of taken too long to get going, it’s a little bit day late and a dollar short, but I think things are starting to click for us. Honestly, if things go differently at certain races, we would have been up there more than we are.”
Andretti has had six other top-10 finishes, including a sixth-place finish at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, a street course.
Andretti considers qualifying monumentally important considering this road course won’t afford many opportunities for overtaking.
“It’s going to be tough to pass here,” Andretti said. “I think Turn 7 is going to be one of the few passing zones, quite frankly.”
Turn 1, which drivers enter after reaching their highest speeds on the main straight, is also expected to bring cars close together.
“We’re going to change that I think on Sunday in the drivers’ meeting,” Andretti said. “We’re going to probably get rid of those barriers because it’s too much of a penalty. If you get pushed out, you should have to just let the car go and re-join. Don’t lose 10 spots. That will ruin a day.”
Andretti has fond memories of this venue from two victories while driving in Formula Renault.
“I don’t remember a lot,” he said. “It was damn near 15 years ago, (and) I’m getting old. That was half my life ago. I think I swept the weekend with two wins.”
It’s a lot different now driving an Indy car, although Andretti didn’t mind the suggestion that this could be a good-luck track.
“I’ll take it,” he said. “I’m definitely hungry. That’s what I want people to know. Just keep going. That’s all we can do.”
His two career Verizon IndyCar Series wins came in 2011 at Iowa and 2006 at Sonoma.
“We need to execute on pit stops and strategy and everything,” Andretti said. “First goal is the pole.”