Qualifying Report: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. April 25–Jack Hawksworth and Takuma Sato will start side-by-side in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at the picturesque Barber Motorsport Park tomorrow afternoon.

Hawksworth will start 19th after posting a time of 1 minute, 8.0082 seconds in the No. 41 ABC Supply Honda. “Not a good day, we obviously struggled a lot for speed,” said Hawksworth. “We just have to keep our heads down and see why really. We need to understand what the change has been since St Pete and the pre-season. Hopefully we can find out what’s going on.”

Sato will start 20th having posted a time of 1 minute, 8.2541 seconds in the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda. “In qualifying, the car didn’t feel bad–it was balanced–but we just weren’t quick enough to transfer,” said Sato. “It was disappointing but hopefully we can improve for tomorrow.”

The teams will have a 30-minute final practice session tomorrow morning. The race, broadcast live on NBC Sports Network starting at 3 p.m. ET, will also be broadcast live on XM satellite radio’s ch. 209, Sirius 212 and the IMS Radio Network.

Helio Castroneves won his second straight Verizon P1 award in his AAA Insurance Chevy for topping the Firestone Fast Six session with a time of 1 minute, 7.1925 seconds. His teammates Will Power and Simon Pagenaud were second and third quickest. Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top six.