Felix Rosenqvist lived through a rollercoaster race in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, battling back from two laps down and a trio of penalties to find himself leading at World Wide Technology Raceway as the chequered flag neared in round eight of the INDYCAR season.
After an encouraging qualifying session on Saturday, Rosenqvist lined up seventh for Sunday’s 260-lap race on the St. Louis oval, joining Meyer Shank Racing team-mate Marcus Armstrong as the best-placed Honda cars on the grid.
Rosenqvist’s race duly got off to a solid start, the Swede running comfortably in the top ten during the opening stint. However, his chances soon took a big hit when he was dealt two separate penalties – a drive-through and a stop and go – following an unsafe release during the first round of pit stops.
”We need to understand the stop and go penalty a bit better – but it kind of ruined our race,” says Felix Rosenqvist. ”From there on it was a long evening.”
Dropping two laps off the lead, the rest of the race was all about trying to recover, with Rosenqvist also having to overcome a third penalty for making an emergency stop when the pits were closed that sent him back to the tail end of the field.
Undaunted, Rosenqvist’s grit gradually began to pay off as he not only clawed himself back into contention thanks to a late caution period, but even managed to briefly take the lead in the closing stages.
An inspired strategy call to try and make it home on a tight fuel number ultimately failed to bear fruit, however, and Rosenqvist wrapped up the day in 16th after a late dive into the pits with seven laps to go.
”It was a hard-fought 16th today; not what we were looking for,” Felix Rosenqvist concludes. ”We were two laps down, got back to the lead lap, but we just ran out of time. We tried to make it home in the end on a different strategy but couldn’t quite make it. Thankfully the next race is just around the corner.”
Rosenqvist – the only driver in the top 18 to visit the pits seven times on Sunday – now sits sixth in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings. The championship resumes next weekend (June 20-22) for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America.
RESULTS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 8
Bommarito Automotive Group 500
World Wide Technology Raceway (USA)
1: Kyle Kirkwood (USA), Andretti, 260 laps
2: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren, +0.539s
3: Christian Rasmussen (DEN), ECR, +0.889s
4: Scott Dixon (NZL), Ganassi, +4.206s
5: Santino Ferrucci (USA), AJ Foyt Racing, +8.945s
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16: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Meyer Shank Racing, +1 lap
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | After 8/17 races
1: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, 335 p.
2: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren, 262 p.
3: Kyle Kirkwood (USA), Andretti, 260 p.
4: Christian Lundgaard (DEN), Arrow McLaren, 221 p.
5: Scott Dixon (NLZ), Ganassi, 206 p.
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6: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Meyer Shank Racing, 190 p.