Felix Rosenqvist powered to his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole of the season with a commanding performance in qualifying for this weekend’s Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis road course.
Rosenqvist stormed to the top of the timesheets in Friday’s qualifying session to snatch pole by nearly three tenths of a second, continuing his recent streak of strong performances in the #7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.
The Swede’s pace in qualifying handed him his second pole position this season, and his second at the IMS road course – where he first topped an INDYCAR qualifying session back in 2019.
With Rosenqvist leading the field to green in Saturday’s 85-lap race, hopes were duly high of a repeat podium to back up his recent success in Toronto two weeks ago.
However, after leading the first seven laps, Rosenqvist slipped back in the middle phase of the race as technical issues relating to the rear brakes began to hamper the progress, costing him valuable top speed.
“We had a great qualifying run, and starting from pole you always aim to win,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “I had a good start and a strong first couple of laps, but then unfortunately we had some sort of issue with the rear brakes not disengaging properly. We are currently investigating what happened.”
Rosenqvist battled through to eventually finish ninth, salvaging a top ten finish which nonetheless left an aftertaste of lost opportunity.
“I was losing a lot of top speed for parts of the second half of the race, but I drove my heart out today,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I rate this as one of my best drives in INDYCAR – it’s just a shame that it went by largely unnoticed on the outside. Still, there are plenty of positives to take once again, and I’m proud of the performance of the team this weekend.”
The back-to-back nature of INDYCAR’s summer schedule sees the championship head to Nashville next weekend (August 6-7) for the final street course event of the season. Felix Rosenqvist retains ninth place in the overall standings with four races to go in 2022.
RESULTS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 13
Gallagher Grand Prix
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (USA)
1: Alexander Rossi (USA), Andretti, 85 laps
2: Christian Lundgaard (DEN), RLL, +3.544s
3: Will Power (AUS), Penske, +14.848s
4: Scott McLaughlin (NZL), Penske, +15.969s
5: Josef Newgarden (USA), Penske +18.425s
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9: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Arrow McLaren SP, +24.465s
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | After 13/17 races
1: Will Power (AUS), Penske, 431 p.
2: Marcus Ericsson (SWE), Ganassi, 422 p.
3: Josef Newgarden (USA), Penske, 399 p.
4: Scott Dixon (NZL), Ganassi, 393 p.
5: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren SP, 385 p.
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9: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Arrow McLaren SP, 299 p.