Мотор спортында бірінші орын немесе "pole position"

First position on a motor racing starting grid

In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the race, although penalties may award it to the second fastest driver, as the pole position is statistically awarded to the driver starting in first position. The number one qualifying driver is also referred to as the pole sitter. The pole position starts the race "at the front of the starting grid. This provides the driver in the pole position the privilege of starting ahead of all the other drivers". In contrast to contemporary motorsport, where only a race participant is designated pole sitter, before World War II, the pace car was designated as the official pole sitter for the Indianapolis 500.

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. Oval qualifying is almost like the Indianapolis 500, with two laps, instead of four, averaged together with one attempt, although with just one session. At Iowa, each car takes one qualifying lap, and the top six cars advance to the feature race for the pole position. Positions from 7th onward are assigned to their races, based on time, with cars in the odd numbered finishing order starting in one race, and cars in the even numbered finishing order starting in the second race. The finishing order for the odd numbered race starts on the inside, starting in Row 6 (11th), and even numbered race on the outside based on finishing position, again from Row 6 (12th), except for the top two in each race, which start in the inside and outside, respectively (Row 4 and 5) of the race for the pole position. The result of the feature race determines positions 1–10. All three races are 50 laps. On road and street courses, cars are drawn randomly into two qualifying groups. After each group has one twenty minute session, the top six cars from each group qualify for a second session. The cars that finished seventh or worse are lined up by their times, with the best of these times starting 13th. The twelve remaining cars run a 15 minute session, after which the top six cars move on to a final 10 minute session to determine positions one through six on the grid. The Iowa format was instituted in 2012 with major modifications (times set based on open qualifying session in second practice, positions 11th and back in odd positions raced in the inside heat, positions 12th and back in even positions raced in the outside heat, and positions 1–10 raced for the pole, each heat 30 laps), and non Iowa oval format in August 2010, while the Indianapolis format was in 2010. The road course format was installed for 2008. In prior seasons, oval qualifying ran for four laps, Indianapolis style, from 2008, and previously two laps with the best lap used for qualification. Street and road circuits used a two phase format similar to oval qualifying except that cars took one qualifying lap, then the top six advanced to the ten minute session for the pole.

The pole position for the Indianapolis 500 is determined on the first day (or first full round) of time trials. Cars run four consecutive laps (10 miles), and the total elapsed time on the four laps determines the positioning. The fastest car on the first day of time trials wins the pole position. Times recorded in earlier days (rounds) start ahead of subsequent days (rounds). A driver could record a time faster than that of the pole winner on a subsequent day; however, he will be required to line up behind the previous day(s)' qualifiers. Starting in 2010, the first day is split into Q1 and Q2. At the end of Q1, positions 10–24 are set. The top nine cars will then have their times wiped out and advance to Q2 where cars will have 90 minutes to run for pole. If inclement weather causes officials to cancel Q2, positions 1–24 are set. If inclement weather in Q1 is early where Q2 is late (past 6 PM usually), drivers will have only one attempt in Q2.

Since , there has been one hour long session on Saturday where the riders have an unlimited number of laps to record a fast lap time. Simply, the rider with the fastest lap gains pole position for the race. In a new format was introduced whereby qualifying is conducted over two 15 minute sessions labelled Q1 and Q2. The fastest 10 riders over combined practice times advance automatically to Q2, while the rest of the field competes in Q1. At the conclusion of Q1 the fastest 2 riders progress to Q2 with a chance to further improve their grid position. In a new format was introduced where the results of qualifying set the grid for a Saturday Sprint Race as well as the Sunday Grand Prix Race.

Before 2001, NASCAR used a two day qualifying format in its national series. Before 2002 only one lap was run on oval tracks except short tracks and restrictor plate tracks. Until 2014, the pole position has been determined by a two lap time trial (one lap on road courses) with the faster lap time used as the driver's qualifying speed. In 2014, NASCAR used a knockout qualifying format for all races except the Daytona 500, non points races, and the Camping World Truck Series' Eldora Dirt Derby: after a 25 minute session (on tracks longer than 1.25 mile (2 km); tracks shorter than 1.25 miles have a 30 minute session), the 24 fastest cars advance to a ten minute session, with the top 12 advancing to a final five minute session. Starting in 2003, if a driver's team changed their car's engine after the qualifying segment was over, the car would be relegated to the rear of the 43 car field. In the case of multiple teams changing engines on the same weekend after a qualifying segment (although this is a rare occurrence), qualifying times from that segment are used to determine the starting order for those cars. In the Eldora Dirt Derby, practice runs are held, which determine the starting grids for five heat races of eight laps each. The top five fastest qualifiers started on pole for each heat, and the winner of the first heat is awarded the pole for the feature race.

In radio controlled car racing, the term Top Qualifier (TQ) is used to determine the fastest qualifying driver, usually over a two day, five/six rounds qualifying sessions, depending on the overall duration of the event. The result is determined by the best half of the driver's performance. 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. The slower drivers are allocated a spot to compete in their groups to determine the overall positions.