Motorsport: Kiwi impresses in IndyCar qualifying

New Zealand driver Wade Cunningham. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand motor racing driver Wade Cunningham will have compatriot Scott Dixon next to him on the grid when he lines up for his IndyCar debut in Texas tomorrow morning (NZT).

The 26-year-old former world karting and Indy Lights champion qualified eighth fastest at the Texas Motor Speedway at Fort Worth after a two-lap average of 48.9504 seconds at a speed of 344.42km/h (214.013 mph).

The Sam Schmidt Motorsport driver was the fastest rookie in qualifying for the first of two 275 mile (442km) races at the circuit and was just .267 seconds slower than teammate Alex Tagliani on pole. He was even closer to seventh fastest qualifier Dixon, trailing the fellow Aucklander by .002 seconds to share the fourth row of the grid with him.

Cunningham outperformed seasoned drivers Australian Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick and Brazilian Helio Castroneves, but said they could get more speed out of the car.

"We were just keeping it simple by doing the basics. Time is quite tight in the session, so we didn't have time to do everything we wanted.

"We didn't go as far as Alex (teammate Tagliani) did in qualifying set-up. So there's a little bit of speed there and, also, I made a little mistake on my gearing entering the green flag which cost us a bit of time as well," he said

The starting places for the second of the two 275-mile races determined by a blind draw after the opening race has been completed.

- NZPA