Linus Lundqvist

IndyCar News: Lundqvist Claims Pole for Xpel GP at Road America

Linus Lundqvist, the promising rookie from Ganassi Racing, has made a stunning debut in the IndyCar series by claiming his first career pole for tomorrow’s race with a blistering lap of 1:45.1519 around the 4-mile Road America circuit.

The Detroit polesitter, Colton Herta, was second fastest with a lap of 1:45.2913.

Lundquist’s teammate,  Marcus Armstrong, will start third after a lap of 1:45.6592.

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood was fourth fastest with a lap of 1:45.4498.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Will Power had incidents during this session and ended up in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Qualifying in the rain, a rare occurrence in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, added an extra layer of challenge.  The teams had to carefully balance the use of wet and alternate tires, making for a thrilling session.

The wet tires did not hold up for more than two laps, and the drying tack made it challenging to keep them cool as the qualifying groups advanced, but Lundqvist pulled it out.

The alternate (Red) tires did not work on the first lap of the Fast Six because some of the track was not dry enough.

 

Linus Lundqvist

Lundqvist           Photo courtesy of Penske Entertainment: James Black

The 2022 INDY NXT (formerly Lights) was excited to finally achieve a pole in his first full year of IndyCar.  The Swede had five wins and nine podiums during that championship year.

“The pole, I mean, it’s huge. What makes it even bigger is to do it together with Chip Ganassi Racing and the American Legion, as well. Especially with their message, to be the one. It feels special to be able to say that proudly now. It feels you’re representing something bigger than racing and bigger than life.”

“To be able to bring that to the forefront, to the front of the row, front of the field I should say, is something I’m incredibly proud of. Hopefully not the last time.”

“We had all five Ganassi cars into the Fast 12 today.  That was pretty awesome.”

“I say this was one of the craziest qualifying sessions I’ve had. This feels like an average British F3 qualifying back in the day type of style where started off torrential rain, then the last part it dried up, we threw on the slicks.”

“It was kind of fun going back to that, a little bit back to my roots. Even growing up back in Sweden, half the races we did was in the rain. I’m pretty comfortable there.”

Road America IndyCar Qualifying Results

Rank

Car

Driver Name

Engine

Time

Speed

Session

1

8

Lundqvist, Linus (R)

Honda

01:45.1519

137.424

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

2

26

Herta, Colton

Honda

01:45.2913

137.242

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

3

11

Armstrong, Marcus

Honda

01:45.6592

136.764

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

4

27

Kirkwood, Kyle

Honda

01:46.4498

135.748

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

5

12

Power, Will

Chevy

No Time

No Speed

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

6

2

Newgarden, Josef

Chevy

Crashed

Crashed

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

7

10

Palou, Alex

Honda

02:00.8290

119.594

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

8

3

McLaughlin, Scott

Chevy

02:00.8840

119.539

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

9

7

Rossi, Alexander

Chevy

02:00.9035

119.520

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

10

9

Dixon, Scott

Honda

02:01.2671

119.162

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

11

5

O’Ward, Pato

Chevy

02:01.5141

118.920

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

12

4

Simpson, Kyffin (R)

Honda

02:01.6266

118.810

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

13

45

Lundgaard, Christian

Honda

02:02.3826

118.076

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

14

77

Grosjean, Romain

Chevy

02:01.7626

118.677

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

15

28

Ericsson, Marcus

Honda

02:02.6460

117.822

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

16

20

Rasmussen, Christian (R)

Chevy

02:02.0944

118.354

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

17

21

VeeKay, Rinus

Chevy

02:02.7088

117.762

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

18

6

Pourchaire, Theo (R)

Chevy

02:02.1745

118.277

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

19

14

Ferrucci, Santino

Chevy

02:03.8144

116.710

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

20

18

Harvey, Jack

Honda

02:02.9443

117.536

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

21

78

Siegel, Nolan (R)

Chevy

02:05.0248

115.580

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

22

60

Rosenqvist, Felix

Honda

02:03.3098

117.188

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

23

51

Ghiotto, Luca (R)

Honda

02:05.1341

115.479

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

24

15

Rahal, Graham

Honda

02:04.8213

115.769

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

25

30

Fittipaldi, Pietro

Honda

02:05.6079

115.044

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

26

41

Robb, Sting Ray

Chevy

02:04.8553

115.737

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

27

66

Castroneves, Helio

Honda

02:09.6837

111.428

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

(R) Rookie

Pursuant to rule 8.3.6, Car 66 lost 2 fastest laps. Pursuant to rule 8.3.6, Car 12 lost 2 fastest laps. Pursuant to rule 8.3.6, Car 2 lost 2 fastest laps. Pursuant to rule 8.3.8.1.3, Cars 12 and 2 ordered on Segment Two times.

Lucille Dust reporting live from Road America