Pole position

Different sanctioning bodies in motor sport employ different qualifying formats in designating who starts from pole position.

Often, a starting grid is derived either by current rank in the championship, or based on finishing position of a previous race.

[2] Originally in Grand Prix racing, grid positions, including pole, were determined by lottery among the drivers.

[3] Before the inception of the Formula One World Championship, the first instance of grid positions being determined by qualifying times was at the 1933 Monaco Grand Prix.

Between 1996 and 2006, the FIA made 6 significant changes to the qualifying procedure, each with the intention of making the battle for pole more interesting to viewers at home.

[4][5] Despite the changing formats, drivers attempting pole were required between 2003 and 2009 to do qualifying laps with the fuel they would use to start the race the next day.

In this situation, pole was not always advantageous to have in the race as the under-fueled driver would have to pit for more fuel before their rivals.

With the race refueling ban introduced, low-fuel qualifying returned and these strategy decisions are no longer in play.

From 2014, the FIA awarded a trophy to the driver who won the most pole positions in a Formula One season.

IndyCar uses four formats for qualifying: one for most oval tracks, one for Iowa Speedway, one for the Indianapolis 500, and another for road and street circuits.

The pole position for the Indianapolis 500 is determined on the first day (or first full round) of time trials.

The fastest 10 riders over combined practice times advance automatically to Q2, while the rest of the field competes in Q1.

In the Eldora Dirt Derby, practice runs are held, which determine the starting grids for five heat races of eight laps each.

For 2023 a World Superbike weekend typically consists of: [14] The format of Superpole depends on weather conditions: To qualify for the race, riders must record a lap time no longer than 107% of the time recorded by the pole-position rider.

As the event bring in over 100 entrants, the fastest driver is guaranteed directly a place in front of the A-main final, the group that carries a chance of being the overall winner.