Rosenqvist Power Surge Continues with Long Beach Pole – Motorsports Tribune

By INDYCAR

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Felix Rosenqvist continues to benefit from a change in scenery in 2024, winning the NTT P1 Award for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday.

Rosenqvist moved from Arrow McLaren to Meyer Shank Racing after the 2023 season, and he delivered MSR its first-ever pole for an NTT INDYCAR SERIES points-paying race with a lap of 1 minute, 6.0172 seconds in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit.

SEE: Qualifying Results

“It was hard,” Rosenqvist said. “Honestly, I didn’t think I had it because I had a big tank-slapper out of (Turn) 5. This is a hard-fought one. It doesn’t come easy. Every lap out there, you’re flirting with the walls. That was a fun one.”

While it was Rosenqvist’s first pole with MSR, it was the Swede’s sixth career pole since he joined the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2019. His last pole came in the season finale last September at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, his final race for Arrow McLaren.

Since moving to MSR, Rosenqvist has qualified second at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding and finished second in the non-points The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge last month, where he also qualified first.

The margin of Rosenqvist’s superiority today was as thin as tissue paper. Two-time series champion Will Power, the leading pole winner in INDYCAR SERIES history, qualified second at 1:06.0211 in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet – .0039 of a second behind Rosenqvist. That’s the tightest front-row margin on a street circuit since knockout qualifying started in the series in 2008.

Power’s strong performance came after his Saturday morning practice session was truncated by two slaps of the Turn 8 wall. It also was Power’s best qualifying performance on a road or street circuit since he surpassed Mario Andretti as the INDYCAR SERIES’ all-time pole winner with his 68th career pole in September 2022 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Power won two NTT P1 Awards last season – both on the oval at Iowa Speedway – to increase his career total to 70.

“Just getting into the (Firestone) Fast Six again is a big deal for me,” Power said. “I’ve been working hard on my qualifying. Been quick all year in practice, so super-stoked to transfer. Obviously, it’s a bit (tough) when you miss out by that much, but Felix must have done a phenomenal lap….