Sato grabs pole for Detroit IndyCar Race 2 - MotorSportsTalk

Takuma Sato in the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. Honda has secured the Verizon P1 Award for Sunday’s second dual Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Presented by Quicken Loans.

It’s Sato’s second pole of the season and his third with A.J. Foyt Enterprises, after also grabbing the top spot at Foyt’s home race of Houston last year. He opened the year with the pole position at St. Petersburg. This marks his fifth career Verizon IndyCar Series pole.

James Hinchcliffe led the first group’s 12-minute session at 1:16.3739, which was a new track record at the 2.35-mile circuit. But Sato beat it with a flier of 1:16.1371, which now sets the new mark.

Both drivers get a point for pacing their respective groups. Sato’s group will start on the inside positions 1-21, with Hinchcliffe’s on the outside 2-22. For Hinchcliffe, he matches his second starting position in race one and has his fourth P2 start of the season.

Times from both groups are below.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

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