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.”

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.

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