IndyCar: Rosenqvist wins Pole at Laguna Seca

Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist won the pole for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey with a  record-breaking lap of  1:06.6416.  It is his second pole of the 2023 season and the fifth of his IndyCar Career.

“This is our last race together tomorrow, so what a way to get that going,” Rosenqvist said. “Especially here, track position is super important. We couldn’t have given ourselves a better opportunity.”

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will start second tomorrow.  His fastest lap was 1:06.6513.

“I dropped a wheel at (Turn) 10, the fast right-hander, just trying to get that extra little bit,” McLaughlin said. “The car was mega. I really feel bad for these guys on the XPEL Chevy. Congrats to Felix. It’s pretty awesome he got his last pole with the team there.”

Scott McLaughlin - Photo from the 2023 Firestone GP of Monterey, CA at Weatherteach Laguna Seca Raceway by Penske Entertainment/IndyCar
Scott McLaughlin – Photo from the 2023 Firestone GP of Monterey, CA at Weatherteach Laguna Seca Raceway by Penske Entertainment/IndyCar

Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Christian Lundgaard will start third with a lap of 1:06.7478.

Lundgaard also set an INDYCAR SERIES track record of 1:06.4610 during the second round of qualifying, breaking Helio Castroneves’ record of 1:07.722 set in 2000. The 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course was repaved this May, with extra grip leading to quicker times and higher speeds.

It took 23 years for the current lame IndyCars to break the CART IndyCar record.

23 years.

Ouch.

Team Penske Josef Newgarden will start fourth and put in a lap of 1;06.7937

Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon will start in Row three next to the new Champion and Alex Palou.

The biggest choke was by Colton Herta, who led practice Friday in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian. Herta, who will start 15th, won this race from the pole in 2019 and 2021.

Colton Herta #26 Andretti Global Honda - Photo from the 2023 Firestone GP of Monterey, CA at Weatherteach Laguna Seca Raceway by Penske Entertainment/IndyCar
Colton Herta #26 Andretti Global Honda – Photo from the 2023 Firestone GP of Monterey, CA at Weatherteach Laguna Seca Raceway by Penske Entertainment/IndyCar

The freshly repaved surface of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca delivered on its high-grip promise today during qualifying for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season Finale. Christian Lundgaard raced into Laguna Seca lore by eclipsing the 23-year-old track record with a blistering 1:06.461 lap with an average speed of 121.226 miles per hour around the 2.238-mile 11-turn Monterey circuit.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Lundgaard broke the longstanding record of 1:07.722 that was set by Helio Castroneves during his qualifying run at the 2000 CART Honda Grand Prix of Monterey.

“It is pretty cool, I must say,” says Lundgaard, upon hearing the news he set the track record. “Coming to such a historical track, we expected it to be a lot quicker, but I don’t think we expected to do this. It’s pretty cool to have the track record here. The track is just awesome.”

Fast laps were set by three drivers during Friday’s practice session, led by Colton Herta with a time of 1:07.538, but official track records can only be achieved during qualifying or race conditions.

The surface and new grip have been the talk of the drivers all weekend long already. “Yea, it’s FAST,” said Kyle Kirkwood with wide eyes and a big smile in a press conference after practice on Friday. “It’s incredible how heavy it is as well; the steering effort is astronomical.”

Alexander Rossi echoed the sentiment earlier that day, “Laguna Seca has always been a driver’s favorite…but now it’s just like you want to try and be as brave as you want to be.”

ce underwent a complete repaving this year, as well as the addition of a new Mission Foods Start Finish Bridge that connects the parking and hospitality areas with the race paddock. The improvements that the Monterey County Board of Supervisors approved in late 2022 signaled the long-term viability of the historic race circuit that was built in 1957 on U.S. Army Fort Ord land.

Qualifying Results

Rank

Car

Driver Name

Engine

Time

Speed

Session

1

6

Rosenqvist, Felix

Chevy

01:06.6416

120.897

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

2

3

McLaughlin, Scott

Chevy

01:06.6513

120.880

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

3

45

Lundgaard, Christian

Honda

01:06.7478

120.705

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

4

2

Newgarden, Josef

Chevy

01:06.7937

120.622

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

5

9

Dixon, Scott

Honda

01:07.0171

120.220

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

6

10

Palou, Alex

Honda

01:07.2846

119.742

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

7

30

Vips, Juri (R)

Honda

01:06.8300

120.557

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

8

21

VeeKay, Rinus

Chevy

01:06.9172

120.400

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

9

12

Power, Will

Chevy

01:06.9282

120.380

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

10

28

Grosjean, Romain

Honda

01:07.1292

120.019

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

11

14

Ferrucci, Santino

Chevy

01:07.4479

119.452

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

12

5

O’Ward, Pato

Chevy

01:07.9392

118.588

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

13

78

Canapino, Agustin (R)

Chevy

01:07.4009

119.535

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

14

15

Rahal, Graham

Honda

01:07.2323

119.835

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

15

26

Herta, Colton

Honda

01:07.4666

119.419

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

16

11

Armstrong, Marcus (R)

Honda

01:07.3726

119.586

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

17

7

Rossi, Alexander

Chevy

01:07.5425

119.285

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

18

27

Kirkwood, Kyle

Honda

01:07.4029

119.532

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

19

8

Ericsson, Marcus

Honda

01:07.6149

119.157

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

20

77

Ilott, Callum

Chevy

01:07.5183

119.328

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

21

60

Blomqvist, Tom (R)

Honda

01:07.7419

118.934

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

22

18

Malukas, David

Honda

01:07.7816

118.864

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

23

55

Pedersen, Benjamin (R)

Chevy

01:07.7583

118.905

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

24

51

Robb, Sting Ray (R)

Honda

01:07.8639

118.720

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

25

20

Hunter-Reay, Ryan

Chevy

01:11.0620

113.377

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

26

29

DeFrancesco, Devlin

Honda

01:07.9083

118.642

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

27

06

Castroneves, Helio

Honda

No Time

No Speed

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

(R) Rookie