Felix Rosenqvist scored a top five result in The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix on Sunday, performing a strong recovery in a race of two halves.
From ninth on the grid at the Palm Springs venue, Rosenqvist experienced a difficult first stint on the black-walled primary tyres, but battled back over the second half of the race as his Meyer Shank Racing Honda came alive on the red, softer Firestone alternates.
Rosenqvist ranked among the fastest cars on track in the second half of the race, completing his afternoon with a move on Andretti Global rival Kyle Kirkwood for P5 in the closing laps.
“It was a weird one today,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “We really struggled on the blacks on the first stint. Luckily we got off them pretty quickly and then we just did the whole race on reds. We were opposite on reds – one of the strongest cars on them – so we capitalized on that and picked off a few cars at the end for P5. It’s a pretty good day from P9.
“It was a game of patience today, kind of just going a little bit slower than you want to, to be quick at the end. It was a game of chess.”
Underlining his pace on the alternate tyres, Rosenqvist set the second-fastest lap of the race.
The result also moves the Swede into the top five in the overall NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings with two rounds completed.
Next up on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – where Felix Rosenqvist qualified on pole last year – on April 11-13.
RESULTS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 2
The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix
The Thermal Club (USA)
1: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, 65 laps
2: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren, +10.185s
3: Christian Lundgaard (DEN), Arrow McLaren, +22.733s
4: Colton Herta (USA), Andretti, +35.072s
5: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Meyer Shank Racing, +35.629s
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | After 2/17 races
1: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, 102 p.
2: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren, 63 p.
3: Scott Dixon (NZL), Ganassi, 61 p.
4: Christian Lundgaard (DEN), Arrow McLaren, 60 p.
5: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Meyer Shank Racing, 56 p.