Felix Rosenqvist sealed pole position for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in a fascinating qualifying showdown on Saturday, trumping Penske’s Will Power in the closest front row margin ever seen on a street course in INDYCAR’s current Firestone Fast 6 era.
After leading the way in the opening group stages, Rosenqvist continued to progress through the qualifying ladder in an exceptionally close-fought Top 12 segment, before ultimately laying down a 1m06.017s lap that edged Power to pole by a mere 0.003s in the Fast 6 decider.
It is the tightest street course pole position advantage in the history of the current INDYCAR qualifying format, which stretches back to 2008.
The effort marks Meyer Shank Racing’s first-ever pole position at an official NTT INDYCAR SERIES event. Rosenqvist also topped qualifying at The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge round last month, although that was formally a non-championship event.
Racking up the sixth pole position of his INDYCAR career, the Swede has now qualified on the front row of the grid for all three races in the opening part of the 2024 INDYCAR season.
“Pole position! Big thanks to the team and all our partners,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “It’s incredibly close out there and I have to say this was a little bit unexpected with the lap I had. I had a big, big moment coming out of Turn 5 – the steering wheel was upside down! – but it was just enough. It is just so close and you’ve got to be your best.
“Beating Will (Power) for pole also means a lot. He has a few of them and it’s always special being up there with him. I’m elated with this result, but we still have the race ahead and that’s what we’re focussing on now.”
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach gets underway on Sunday at 12:45 pm local time, running for 85 laps.
RESULTS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 2
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets of Long Beach (USA)
Qualifying
1: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Meyer Shank Racing, 1m06.017s
2: Will Power (AUS), Penske, +0.003s
3: Josef Newgarden (USA), Penske, +0.088s
4: Colton Herta (USA), Andretti, +0.361s
5: Marcus Ericsson (SWE), Andretti, +0.386s