Herta navigated the 1.645-mile, nine temporary street circuit to put down a quick lap of 1m00.547s to claim the 12th pole of his IndyCar career, rebounding after crashing from second in the Indianapolis 500 last weekend.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou made a strong run at pole, but the reigning champion fell short by 0.152s to claim the second spot alongside Herta on the front row.
The Team Penske duo Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were third and fourth respectively, while six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon (CGR) and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood completed the top six.
Fast Six qualifying
McLaughlin set the benchmark at 1m01.304s, but Herta responded with a 1m01.116s lap to take the top spot with less than two minutes to go.
The provisional top spot began to rotate as Newgarden, then Palou went fastest, before Herta delivered his mighty 1m00.547s run.
A red flag came out after Kirkwood stalled his #27 Andretti Global entry following an off in Turn 1. He lost his two quickest laps as a result and dropped to sixth.
The break set up a one-lap shootout for pole between the remaining five competitors. However everyone appeared to struggle getting their tyres in the peak performance window, and the running order remained unchanged.
Colton Herta, Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda
Photo by: Geoffrey M. Miller / Motorsport Images
"A complete 180 and just super happy for the team," Herta said of his response to Indy. "You know, they worked their tails off in the month of May, and it was disappointing to say the least.
"So, to come back for some redemption, it feels good."
Palou said of his front row spot: "The car has been awesome since practice one yesterday and we're able to fight during all segments in qualifying. So yeah, starting on the front row and looking forward to tomorrow.
"It's gonna be a busy, busy race, but with a fast car I think it's a little bit easier."
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Top 12 qualifying
A red flag came out with just under four minutes to go after Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward stopped off course in Turn 5. The Indy 500 runner-up tried to get out of the way of Kirkwood, before being accidentally dropping the clutch while approaching the corner. He lost his two fastest laps and was not allowed to advance, leaving him 12th.
Palou jumped to the top of the leaderboard when the session resumed, but was pushed down moments later as Herta hit a lap of 1m00.518s and then improved to 1m00.230s on the next lap.
Kirkwood was second, followed by Dixon in third. McLaughlin, Palou and Newgarden grabbed the remaining transfer spots.
Patricio O'Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
Arrow McLaren rookie Theo Pourchaire was only 0.028s from making his first Fast Six appearance in seventh.
Team Penske’s Will Power was an anguished eighth, ahead of Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson in ninth. After an eventful second practice, Santino Ferrucci, who started once again on fresh alternates, ended up 10th.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard finished up in 11th.
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Group Stage qualifying
Pourchaire topped the first group with a quick lap of 1m00.700s on a set of alternates to go top in the final seconds. McLaughlin and Newgarden ended up second and third, ahead of Kirkwood in fourth. Power was fifth, with Ferrucci in the final transfer spot in sixth.
Ferrucci and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay were the only drivers to start the group running on alternates, with everyone else swapping midway through.
Rookie Christian Rasmussen was the first driver on the outside in seventh, hitting a 1m01.393s, roughly a tenth of a second off from transferring.
Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean was eighth, but claimed he was impeded by Ferrucci and stomped down to the pits of AJ Foyt Racing to talk with team president Larry Foyt and voice his displeasure.
Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi and VeeKay finished ninth and 10th respectively. Chip Ganssi Racing rookies Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson ended up 11th and 12th, with Dale Coyne Racing’s returnee Tristan Vautier in 13th.
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The second group was led by Palou, who hit a stout lap of 1m00.347s in the final minute and dethroned Lundgaard’s 1m00.414s run.
Herta and Ericsson were third and fourth, while O’Ward delivered late heroics to vault back into the transfer spot in fifth. Dixon powered to sixth.
Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) narrowly missed transferring by 0.061s in seventh. He was trailed by team-mate Pietro Fittipaldi, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong in 10th.
Felix Rosenqvist’s Meyer Shank Racing entry missed the cut, but his misery was added with a penalty for causing a local yellow, relegating him down to 11th.
AJ Foyt Racing’s Sting Ray Robb was 12th, ahead of Tom Blomqvist's MSR stand-in Helio Castroneves 13th and Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey 14th.
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Source: Autosport