After a dismal qualifying performance for the McLaren Formula 1 team in Bahrain, Felix Rosenqvist brought them some cheer at Texas Motor Speedway.
Rosenqvist ended his three-year wait for an IndyCar pole position on the superspeedway, putting his McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet at the head of the field.
In the single car qualifying format, grid order was determined by the average speed across two flying laps. Rosenqvist, who was 11th in the queue of 27 cars to qualify based on current championship order, laid down a two lap average speed of 355.842kph (221.110mph).
From there, he waited as 16 other drivers made their qualifying runs as the track temperature began to rise. Despite competitive runs from the likes of Takuma Sato and Scott McLaughlin, Rosenqvist held on for his second career IndyCar Series pole position, his first on an oval.
McLaughlin, who won his first race three weeks ago on the streets of St Petersburg, Florida, qualified second with a two lap average of…