Felix Rosenqvist is looking ahead to new opportunities in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES after enduring a difficult weekend in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville.
Rosenqvist started Sunday’s race in Music City from 14th on the grid, having narrowly missed out on transferring to the Firestone Fast 12 segment by a mere 0.004 seconds in qualifying.
Running in the midfield for most of the race – which proved atypically undramatic for most of its duration – Rosenqvist got caught out on the marbles as racing resumed on lap 73 following a caution period to retrieve fellow Swede Linus Lundqvist’s crashed car.
Understeering into the wall at Turn 11 amid a strongly congested restart, Rosenqvist retired on the spot with damage to his #6 Arrow McLaren, with two other drivers also getting caught up in the same incident (which triggered a late red flag).
“It’s been a tough weekend overall,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “Practice was difficult, but there was some hope after qualifying. I felt we had a little bit more potential there. In the race, I was struggling a lot with straightline speed and pace. We were able to follow but couldn’t really get by anyone.
“Then on that last restart, I got stuck on the outside and hit the marbles. It was like going on ice; the tarmac was kind of breaking up at that point. We really didn’t have any positives in this race. We tried to gamble on strategy, but that didn’t work out either. It’s a weekend to forget for us, and thankfully the next race is just a few days away.”
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to action next weekend (August 11-12) with the Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
RESULTS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 13
Big Machine Music City Grand Prix
Nashville (USA)
1: Kyle Kirkwood (USA), Andretti, 80 laps
2: Scott McLaughlin (NZL), Penske, +0.763s
3: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, +1.722s
4: Josef Newgarden (USA), Penske, +3.141s
5: Scott Dixon (NZL), Ganassi, +4.165s
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DNF: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Arrow McLaren, +7 laps
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | After 13/17 races
1: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, 513 p.
2: Josef Newgarden (USA), Penske, 429 p.
3: Scott Dixon (NZL), Ganassi, 387 p.
4: Scott McLaughlin (NZL), Penske, 371 p.
5: Marcus Ericsson (SWE), Ganassi, 357 p.
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12: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Arrow McLaren, 241 p.