Felix Rosenqvist captured the NTT P1 Award for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, on Saturday, April 18.<\/p>\n
The event\u2019s starting lineup was determined through a qualifying format that was broken into three segments. The first segment (Segment 1) featured the field being divided into two groups and receiving 10 minutes to post the fastest qualifying lap amongst one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fastest six competitors from each group transferred to the second qualifying segment, Segment 2. Meanwhile, the competitors who qualified in the first group but did not transfer to Segment 2 filled in the odd-numbered positions while the second group competitors occupied the even-numbered positions, respectively.<\/p>\n
Segment 2 featured the top-12 competitors who advanced from Segment 1 given 10 minutes to qualify. From this segment, the fastest six qualifiers transferred to the third and final segment, the Firestone Fast Six, while the bottom six qualifiers occupied positions 7th through 12th, respectively. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Firestone Fast Six round featured each of the final six qualifiers posting a single-lap qualifying run individually. This format was first used during IndyCar\u2019s inaugural event at the Streets of Arlington, Texas, in mid-March and will be used for the remaining street circuits this season. The competitor who posted the single-fastest lap was awarded the pole position.<\/p>\n
Rosenqvist, a 34-year-old native of V\u00e4rnamo, Sweden, commenced Saturday\u2019s qualifying session by being the fastest qualifier from the first group of the first qualifying round. He was then the third-fastest competitor and one of six to transfer to the Firestone Fast 6 round. After electing to qualify third of the final six qualifiers, Rosenqvist posted a single pole-winning lap at 105.017 mph in 1:07.4635.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the pole, Rosenqvist notched his seventh NTT INDYCAR SERIES<\/a> career pole, his second driving for Meyer Shank Racing and his first since he won the pole position at Long Beach in 2024. The pole award was also the second ever for Meyer Shank Racing and the third in a row this season for Honda.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rosenqvist, who is in his third consecutive campaign driving the No. 60 Dallara-Honda entry for Meyer Shank Racing, enters Long Beach strapped in 14th place in the driver\u2019s standings. He also holds an average-finishing result of 14.3 as he has finished no higher than 12th through the first four-scheduled events this season (Streets of St. Petersburg & Phoenix Raceway). Amid the start, Rosenqvist strives to cap off the weekend by contending for his first IndyCar victory in six years.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was nerve-wracking to watch [during the final round of qualifying],\u201d Rosenqvist said on FS1. \u201cMy old buddy, Pato, there at the end. He was close. That was a good lap. What a day for us. Meyer Shank Racing had their win in the IMSA race before [today\u2019s qualifying], [IMSA] pole yesterday and then, followed by [IndyCar] pole here, too. It\u2019s been a tough start of the year. We said we wanted to do a little bounce back here and so we did. Huge thanks for everyone, SiriusXM, Honda, Meyer Shank Racing<\/a>, Acura. Phenomenal day for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosenqvist will share the front row with former teammate Pato O\u2019Ward. O\u2019Ward, who opted to qualify the last of the six finalists, was on pace to knock Rosenqvist off the top of the qualifying charts before he settled with the second-fastest single-lap session at 104.948 mph in 1:07.5076.<\/p>\n Alex Palou, the reigning four-time IndyCar champion who is coming off his victory at Barber Motorsport Park, will start in third place with a lap at 104.915 mph in 1:07.5289. Palou, who is pursuing his first Long Beach victory, will share the second row with Kyle Kirkwood, the latter of whom clocked in the fourth-fastest lap at 104.774 mph in 1:07.6199 and has won two of the previous three IndyCar events at Long Beach.<\/p>\n