NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RD. 15 – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500, GATEWAY (USA)
Felix Rosenqvist completed Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park, gathering valuable experience in the final oval event of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season.
In his rookie year of racing in America’s top-flight single-seater series, Rosenqvist has been in frontrunning contention at road course and street track events, but has suffered a lack of momentum on the ovals after getting tangled up in a number of incidents.
In the last oval round of the season at Gateway, however, Rosenqvist was able to finally complete a largely trouble-free run, finishing on the lead lap in 11th place after two hours and 15 minutes of racing.
Rosenqvist also managed to lead one lap (the 116th out of 248) in his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine, this weekend sporting a striking Monster Energy livery, to rack up an extra championship point.
The race was won by Takuma Sato, with Ed Carpenter and Tony Kanaan completing a highly experienced podium.
“I think we started out with good track position, but we were pretty average overall in the Monster Energy Honda this weekend,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “We were trying to save some fuel and then we went another route and I think it was just one of those nights. We were a bit unlucky with some caution periods as well and that probably cost us a slightly better result. The main thing here, though, is that we got to run all the laps and at least we got that valuable experience. I’m happy to have finished the final oval race of the season and I feel like I’ve improved a lot on this type of track.”
Following this weekend’s race, the battle over Rookie of the Year honours is hotting up further still. Having led the rookie race for much of the season, Rosenqvist now drops down to second behind Santino Ferrucci (who finished fourth at Gateway) – with just two points separating the duo after 15 out of 17 races.
The NTT IndyCar Series resumes next weekend with the penultimate round of the season at Portland International Raceway.
RESULTS
NTT IndyCar Series | Gateway
1: Takuma Sato (JPN), 248 laps
2: Ed Carpenter (USA), +0.039s
3: Tony Kanaan (BRA), +2.245s
4: Santino Ferrucci (USA), +4.193s
5: Simon Pagenaud (FRA), +6.274s
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11: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), +19.859s
View complete results
STANDINGS – OVERALL
(TOP FIVE)
NTT IndyCar Series | After 15/17 races
1: Josef Newgarden (USA), 563 p.
2: Simon Pagenaud (FRA), 525 p.
3: Alexander Rossi (USA), 517 p.
4: Scott Dixon (NZL), 493 p.
5: Will Power (AUS), 416 p.
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10: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), 324 p.
View complete standings
STANDINGS – ROOKIES
(TOP FIVE)
NTT IndyCar Series | After 15/17 races
1: Santino Ferrucci (USA), 326 p.
2: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), 324 p.
3: Colton Herta (USA), 282 p.
4: Marcus Ericsson (SWE), 252 p.
5: Patricio O’Ward (MEX), 115 p.
View complete standings