Felix Rosenqvist qualified on pole for the Texas 375 at Texas Motor Speedway – his second consecutive pole at the 2.4-kilometre, 1.5-mile superspeedway.
With the qualifying order set by entrant points, Rosenqvist was the tenth driver out of a bumper grid of 28 cars to attempt to qualify. But the McLaren driver immediately put himself at the front of the field.Determined to bounce back after being caught up in a first-lap crash in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Rosenqvist was the first and only driver to average over 220 miles per hour during his two-lap qualifying run. His two-lap average of 220.264 mph (354.481 kph) put him on the provisional pole ahead of Colton Herta.
The likes of Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, and Arrow McLaren team mate Alexander Rossi came close to toppling him, but none of them were able to knock Rosenqvist off the top spot as he won his fourth career IndyCar Series pole position.
Dixon, a three-time winner at Texas Motor Speedway, qualified second in his Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing entry.
McLaren’s three-car outfit impressed during qualifying, as Rossi qualified third, ahead of Pato O’Ward in fifth. Josef Newgarden was Penske’s best qualifier in fourth place, between Rossi and O’Ward.
In his first start of the season, Takuma Sato looked like he’d never missed a beat as he qualified sixth in his number 11 Ganassi/Honda. Alex Palou was seventh-fastest, while Will Power qualified eighth after he hit the rev limiter hard during his second lap.
Sophomore driver David Malukas was ninth-fastest, while Herta eventually sorted down into tenth place.
Of the three rookies, Benjamin Pedersen put in a surprising performance. The driver of AJ Foyt Racing’s number 55 car was 13th fastest, ahead of his team mate Santino Ferrucci and several other more experienced competitors and past race winners.
Those included Scott McLaughlin, who was only 15th fastest after setting the pace during this morning’s first practice session, and St. Petersburg race winner Marcus Ericsson, who was last to run and took 16th.
IndyCar’s annual visit to Texas could be one of the more entertaining outings in the circuit’s history if the range of aerodynamic kit options available to teams works as intended. There will be two additional practice sessions later this afternoon to help put rubber down on the outside grooves in the corners.
The green flag for Sunday’s race is scheduled for 5:15 PM BST / 11:15 AM CDT (local time).
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Texas 375 qualifying results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Felix Rosenqvist | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 2 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi | Honda |
| 3 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 5 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 6 | 11 | Takuma Sato | Ganassi | Honda |
| 7 | 10 | Alex Palou | Ganassi | Honda |
| 8 | 12 | Will Power | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 9 | 18 | David Malukas | Coyne/HMD | Honda |
| 10 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti | Honda |
| 11 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti | Honda |
| 12 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | Andretti | Honda |
| 13 | 55 | Benjamin Pedersen | Foyt | Chevrolet |
| 14 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | Foyt | Chevrolet |
| 15 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 16 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Ganassi | Honda |
| 17 | 77 | Callum Ilott | Juncos Hollinger | Chevrolet |
| 18 | 33 | Ed Carpenter | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 19 | 78 | Agustin Canapino | Juncos Hollinger | Chevrolet |
| 20 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti | Honda |
| 21 | 06 | Helio Castroneves | Meyer Shank | Honda |
| 22 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank | Honda |
| 23 | 51 | Sting Ray Robb | Coyne/RWR | Honda |
| 24 | 15 | Graham Rahal | RLL | Honda |
| 25 | 20 | Conor Daly | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 26 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 27 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | RLL | Honda |
| 28 | 30 | Jack Harvey | RLL | Honda |
IndyCar
- Dixon sips fuel to win as Newgarden and Herta collide in his mirrors
- Rosenqvist beats Penske pair at Long Beach to give Meyer Shank first pole
- F2 champion Pourchaire to make IndyCar debut for McLaren at Long Beach
- IndyCar’s packed pit lanes “a good problem to have” with 29-car field
- How to watch the Chinese GP, IndyCar at Long Beach and WEC at Imola
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