Felix Rosenqvist was denied a probable victory by the cruel twist of fate after a race-leading performance in the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America came undone by a highly unfortunate caution period during a crucial pit stop phase.
Having worked his way into a solid four-second lead from fourth on the grid, Rosenqvist sat in prime position for victory in round ten of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES moving past the halfway mark of the 55-lap race in Wisconsin.
However, a caution on lap 30 unravelled the strategy for the Indianapolis 500 winner at a critical point in the race.
As Rosenqvist prepared to make his second pit stop, a Full Course Yellow was called just as the Swede came around the final corner, triggering the pitlane to close.
That forced Rosenqvist to remain on track until the pits reopened, delaying his stop by two laps while the rest of the field rejoined behind.
The timing of the caution shuffled the running order and put Rosenqvist back to P11, behind a flurry of cars that had managed to pit in the laps preceding the yellow.
While pushing to recover on the restart, the Meyer Shank Racing driver then ran wide, losing additional positions. Despite the setback, he continued to charge forward and fought his way back into the top ten, crossing the finish line in eighth place.
“P8 in the end; a good recovery but clearly not the result we deserved,” says Felix Rosenqvist. ”We were pretty much four seconds clear in the lead. Then that ECR car (Christian Rasmussen) stopped and it went yellow when we were one second away from pitting. That put us back in the midfield and then I made a mistake and lost a couple more spots. All things considered, it was a good recovery to come home in the top eight.”
To add further injury to the Meyer Shank Racing charge at Road America, team-mate Marcus Armstrong inherited the lead and was on course for victory when an apparent engine issue forced the New Zealander to retire with just three laps to go.
”We were very quick this weekend, and I think one of our [MSR] cars would have, should have won that race,” Felix Rosenqvist concludes. ”A great effort by the team, but unfortunately, sometimes that’s not enough in this sport. It’s how it goes – but the performance was clearly there with both of us. It’s encouraging for the rest of the season.”
Having won at the track in 2020 and finished second last year, Rosenqvist once again underscored his pace at Road America by leading a race-high 18 laps this season.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES resumes at Mid-Ohio on July 3-5. Felix Rosenqvist is now up to sixth in the championship standings.
RESULTS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 10
XPEL Grand Prix at Road America
Road America (USA)
1: Christian Lundgaard (DEN), McLaren, 55 laps
2: David Malukas (USA), Penske, +0.624s
3: Will Power (AUS), Andretti, +1.556s
4: Kyffin Simpson (CYM), Ganassi, +2.309s
5: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, +2.967s
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8: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Meyer Shank Racing, +5.439s
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | After 10/18 races
1: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, 374 p.
2: David Malukas (USA), Penske, 314 p.
3: Kyle Kirkwood (USA), Andretti, 313 p.
4: Christian Lundgaard (DEN), McLaren, 297 p.
5: Pato O’Ward (MEX), McLaren, 257 p.
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6: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Meyer Shank Racing, 248 p.