NTT INDYCAR SERIES | RD. 3&4
PREVIEW: REV GROUP GRAND PRIX, ROAD AMERICA (USA)

Just days after the chequered flag fell at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Felix Rosenqvist and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES are back on track this weekend for the first double-header event of the season at Wisconsin’s iconic Road America roller-coaster course.

Rosenqvist has endured a challenging start to the 2020 INDYCAR campaign, crashing out when running second in the opening race at Texas Motor Speedway and then coming home an unrepresentative 15th following an untimely caution last weekend at the IMS road course.

While those results have left Rosenqvist down in 19th place in the current championship standings, pace-wise things have been looking a lot brighter for the 2019 Rookie of the Year, who is determined to score big this weekend in the two races at the REV Group Grand Prix – an event which will also see fans return track-side.

“I’m glad we have this double-header weekend ahead of us, providing a quick opportunity to improve on our recent results,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “Also, it’s fantastic to have the fans back. I really like Road America. It’s the longest track on the calendar at over four miles, it’s a beautiful setting, and the layout offers a great mix of corners. I think it will suit us well and we should have a competitive weekend in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda.”

Rosenqvist finished sixth at Road America last year (only one race was staged at the track in 2019), producing one of his best drives of the season in the process. With the Chip Ganassi Racing cars struggling in qualifying, Rosenqvist started the race as lowly as 18th, but then battled his way back through the pack to finish as the leading rookie.

The events of Road America in 2019 are reminiscent of the tendencies seen in the early parts of 2020, with the CGR cars flying in race trim – as demonstrated by Scott Dixon’s back-to-back wins in Texas and Indianapolis – but finding qualifying a bit more difficult.

“Qualifying has been our weak spot so far, but we’re working hard on it and we are bringing some interesting things to the track this weekend,” Felix Rosenqvist continues. “We know that we’ve got a very efficient car over a race distance, so the target now is to improve in qualifying as well to ensure we start a bit further up the grid. We have two qualifying sessions this weekend, so we will be able to test a bit more stuff. I think this will be a very interesting weekend for many reasons.”

The REV Group Grand Prix is the first of three double-header events on the revised 2020 INDYCAR calendar.

Running begins on Saturday with 75 minutes of practice, followed later in the day by the first qualifying session and Race 1 of the weekend. Sunday then sees the field head straight into a second qualifying session, which will determine the grid for the subsequent Race 2.