Sebastien Bourdais will start an oval race from polꦑe position fꦡor the first time in 12 years on Saturday night after topping qualifying for the IndyCar Phoenix Grand Prix.

Bourdais took advantage of his placeme🐽n💝t as the final driver to take to the track in qualifying to record a two-lap average speed of 188.539 mph, going 0.4 mph faster than Penske's Simon Pagenaud to secure pole position.

The result marked Bourdais' first oval pole since Milwaukee 2006, and is just the second in Dale Coyne Racing's 35-year history as it𝓰 continued its good start to the season following the Frenchman's victory in St. Petersburg three weeks ago.

Pagenaud was left to settle for P2 on the grid, with Penske teammate Will Power securing t♊hird ahead of Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports enjoyed a strong qualifying as James Hinchcliffe and rookie Robert Wickens secured P5 and P6 respectively for the start at Phoenix, finཧishing ahead of defending champion Josef Newgarden.

Ryan Hunter-Reay will take the start from eight𒅌h for Andretti ahead of Tony Kanaan, while🏅 debutant Pietro Fittipaldi impressed to secure 10th place for his first IndyCar race.