Tag: Felix Rosenqvist

Rosenqvist Sets Pace in Practice 3; Qualifying Groups; Announcements

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Photo: Kyle McInnes

Felix Rosenqvist led the final practice before qualifying this morning as qualifying groups were set. Team Penske cars of Josef Newgarden, Will Power, and Simon Pagenaud took the next three spots. Title contenders Alexander Rossi 10th and Scott Dixon was eighth.

The session ran green the entire way. Takuma Sato led early in practice and ended fifth. Colton Herta, who led a practice yesterday, was seventh this morning.  Ryan Hunter-Reay, leader of Practice 2 Friday, was 18th.

The top 12:

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Qualifying begins at 1:35 Pacific time and can be viewed on NBCSN.

Notes

Rahal Letterman Lanigan officially confirmed that Takuma Sato will return to the team for 2020. Sato has won twice and earned two pole positions this year.

The Road to Indy announced that Exclusive Autosport will field teams on all three rungs of the development series in 2020. They plan to have two cars in Indy Lights. This team will be a great addition to Indy Lights and a much needed expansion to the field.

Back with Quick Thoughts after qualifying.

Rosenqvist Cleared to Drive; Reveals New Livery for Saturday

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Felix Rosenqvist has been cleared to drive in the Bommariot Automotive Group 500 Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway. Rosenqvist was involved inn the first lap crash Sunday at Pocono. The nose of this car lifted into the fence, but returned to the track. he was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation and released later Sunday evening. Yesterday he received the final okay from NTT Indycar Series doctors to drive in this weekend’s event.

Today Chip Ganasssi Racing revealed Rosenqvist’s car for Saturday with Monster Energy sponsorship.

This livery should look great in a night race. I’m wondering if this is the start of Monster Energy’s interest in sponsoring a car on a more regular basis. I hope so.

World Wide Technology Raceway Adds Fan Enhancements

The track  will have three large video boards at the race Saturday.  It will sure be an improvement over the tiny screens from the past two years.

The Stanley Cup, the NHL’s trophy won by the St. louis Blues in June, will be on display at some point Saturday on the fan midway stage. Colton Parayko of the Blues will be the Grand  Marshal  for the race. Blues team captain Alex Pietrangelo will also be at the track.  I am very excited to at last get to see the Cup in person. After the Borg-Warner trophy, I think the Stanley Cup is the coolest trophy in North America.

Back later with some more on the race Saturday.  Look for my race preview tomorrow.

Day 2 Wrap-up

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Photo: Felix Rosenqvist at the Indycar Grand Prix. Photo by Kyle McInnes

Felix Rosenqvist spun in turn two at 5:02. His car snapped as it appeared he caught the grass with his left front tire. He backed into the outside wall the went head on into the tire barrier on the inside.  His spinning car just missed clipping Will Power and Jack Harvey just missed running into Rosenqvist. He was checked and released from the infield medical center.

After just a few minutes of green flag running, the yellow flew for a track inspection. Another track inspection with seven minutes left, the track closed for the day.

Josef Newgarden’ s earlier time of 228. 856 held as the fastest of the day. Alexander Rossi was 34th quickest but had the fastest no tow speed.

Alonso talked to NBC Sports about his accident.

“It was understeer on the car, and even if I lifted the throttle on the entry of the corner, it was not enough, and I lost completely the front aero. The wall came too close and too quickly. Unfortunately, it happened today. We will lose a little bit of running time again. I’m sorry for the team, but we will learn and hopefully, we will come back stronger tomorrow. I’m disappointed and sad for the team and for the guys. We worked quite a lot on the car and definitely now it’s quite damaged, so I feel sorry for the team and for my mistake. We will learn from this and hopefully tomorrow we’re back on track and back stronger”

McLaren is repairing the primary car and also building the backup car. they will try both tomorrow and decide which car to qualify.

Notes

The F1 grid lines are slowly returning as the sealant lightens.

Newgarden said that like last year it is difficult to follow especially in a deep pack of cars. He thinks the race will be similar to last year, but it will depend on the temperature. A cooler day might see better racing than a warm day. Newgarden also noted that the team or other teams as well have not tried all the downforce and aero tools Indycar has made available this year.

Rossi said the team completed their checklist for today and then parked the car. He didn’t seem concerned about his speed ranking today and thought being first on the no tow list was irrelevant.

Rosenqvist Wins Pole in a Different Fast Six

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Photo:  Felix Rosenqvist on his way to his first career Indycar pole. Photo: Kyle McInnes

 

Scott Dixon and Will Power looked at their Fast Six competition and had to ask, “Who are these guys?”  Two  rookie drivers, Felix Rosenqvist and Colton Herta, had each made one Fast Six appearance this season. For Jack Harvey and Ed Jones, this was new ground.

Each round of NTT Indycar Series  qualifying for the Indycar Grand Prix had twists and turns, with many favorites, including points leader Josef Newgarden and other usual final round residents like Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay not advancing out of Round 1.  Yet things didn’t\;t seem totally amiss. Takuma Sato led Group 1, which was not a surprise this season. Power advanced, but no one thought anything of his fourth place. There was more focus on who didn’t advance than who did. Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden watched the rest of qualifying and will start 17th and 13th respectively. Group 2 knocked out Ryan Hunter-Reay and Patricio O’Ward, who faded late in the session after showing early speed.

Probably the shock of Round 2 was Sato not advancing. Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud looked like they had a chance, especially given the inexperience of the rest of the group.

Then the Fast Six gave us a rookie pole winner with his veteran five time teammate starting next to him’

Rosenqvist said, ” It was the first time I felt relaxed in the car and didn’t feel I had to push 120%.”

The polesitter has won four of the five Indycar Grand Prix. Weather may be a factor in who wins tomorrow. It is likely the string of winners whose last name starts with P is about to end.

Qualifying Results by Round. Starting Lineup will be up tomorrow with the latest weather update.

Round -1-1

Sato

Bourdais

Rosenqvist

Harvey

Jones

Power

Round 1-2

Herta

Dixon

Ericsson

Rahal

Pagenaud

Pigot

Round 2

Herta

Rosenqvist

Harvey

Power

Dixon

Jones

Fast Six

Rosneqvist

Dixon

Harvey

Herta

Jones

Power

 

Quick Thoughts- Indycar Grand Prix Qualifying

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Nice to see so many different drivers in the second round.

Even nicer to see new faces in the Fast Six.

Scott Dixon and Will Power have a big chance to move up in the point standings tomorrow.

I can’t remember the last Ganassi front row lockout. It might have been when Dario Franchitti and Dixon were together.

Jack Harvey was having an under the radar good season. It’s not under the radar now. When you remember Harvey is not full time, this makes a Fast Six appearance even more impressive.

The Fast Six had two rookies, three drivers making their first appearance in the final round, and two drivers who make regular appearances.  The changing of the guard is getting closer.

Weather could play a huge role in tomorrow’s race.

Full qualifying story up later tonight. Thanks for following along today.

 

 

COTA Qualifying-Quick Thoughts

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Will Power is trying to pass Mario Andretti’s pole record this season.

Another first round red flag cost Sebastien Bourdais a chance to advance. Has to be frustrating for him, especially since his teammate, Santino Ferrucci, advanced. The red flag to end group 2 may have cost Marco Andretti. Unlike St. Pete, the reds came with less than a minute left in each session, so no one can complain about not having a shot.

I’m not so sure now that the race will be caution free. Turn 19 could be an action packed spot tomorrow.

This rookie class is good. Four of the six advanced to the second round. Felix Rosenqvist was the only to get through to the Fast Six for the second race in a row. He has out-qualified Scott Dixon twice. Rosenqvist had the fastest qualifying lap, 1:45.5 in round 2.

It’s great to see the rookies contending for starting spots at the front every week.

Look for the Power-Rossi front row a lot this season, though not always in this order.

Cars are sliding a lot, which will make for some exciting racing.

Round 2 was one of the best qualifying rounds I’ve seen.

Thank goodness there are no track limits in turn 19. The series might want to move some Porta Potties around, however.

The cars of Pato O’ Ward and Kyle Kaiser look very similar. Doesn’t help that they are numbers 31 and 32.

The race could be 2 hours long at these speeds.

A full qualifying report will be on Wildfire Sports later this evening.

Quick Thoughts – Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

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A typical St. Pete race- action early then strung out the second half.  That’s not to say there weren’t some interesting things to watch. There was some good racing throughout the pack. It was fun to track the rookies, who did quite well.

Another huge crowd here. I talked to someone who has been to every St. Pete race who said this was the biggest crowd he’d seen.

What a great move by Rosenqvist to pass Power on the restart. He was a thorn in Power’s side all day.

Pit strategy once again determined the winner. Tim Cindric made the right call  by saving the new reds. Early in 2018, he made a couple of good calls on tires as well.

There were fewer cautions than I expected. One more could have changed the results.

Three rookies, Rosenqvist, Colton Herta, and Santino Ferrucci finished in the top 10. Marcus Ericsson ran in the top 10 a while before dropping out with mechanical problems. At COTA, Pato O’Ward joins the rookie crop. The battle for Rookie of the Year could be just as good as the championship fight.

Great drive by Jack Harvey to finish 10th.

Given the engine issues Bourdais and Hunter-Reay had, I hope we’re not seeing the Honda engine of 2017 return.

About a fourth of the cars had non functioning LED panels. I hope this is fixable.

It was great having Robert Wickens at the track. his presence electrified the atmosphere for the paddock and the fans. His absence on the track gives the series one less contender.

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Look for my full race wrap-up on Wildfire Sports tomorrow.

 

Quick Thoughts- The Season’s First Day

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Robert Wickens returned to a race track for the first time since his accident. He spoke to the media. He is in good spirits and doing well.  Some excerpts:

“Being back at a race track makes everything a little better.”

“It was strange being on the smart side of the pit wall.”

“I’m getting some stuff back. Trying to utilize every day to get as healthy as I can.”

He called the fan support here at St. Petersburg “Amazing. I thought the fans would be more focused on the race cars.”  “Fan support has been a big motivation piece.”

“100%” he wants to race again. “I want tog et back into racing as I left off. I don’t want to just run at the back of the field.”

Wickens’ appearance was a great emotional lift for him. I think it was just as much as an emotional lift for the media. The press doesn’t usually applaud at the end of a conference.

A pleasant problem-Additional teams at a street course race means a more crowded paddock.

It’s not quite 10:30 and there is already a good sized crowd here.

The top six in Practice 1 were all Hondas. Rookie Felix Rosenqvist led the session with a time of 1:01.8215. Josef Newgarden was the fastest Chevy 0,35 seconds behind. The rookies I spoke with the other day are interested to see how the red tires work in today’s second session.

Dale Coyne announced a third car for James Davison for the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500. Davison drove for Belardi in partnership with A. J. Foyt Racing last year. he finished 33rd. Davison becomes the official 33rd entry for this year’s field.

Max Chilton has the best looking car.

 

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The Early, Early Line

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Happy New Year and welcome to another year of The Pit Window. Thanks to everyone for making 2018 a record year for this site.  Here are are some early predictions for the 2019 Indycar season. I may revise these after the Spring Training sessions at COTA next month.

2019 Champion– Alexander Rossi. Rossi made some mistakes that cost him the title last season. He seems to learn quickly and I don’t expect those errors to be repeated. Dixon has never won consecutive titles, which is why I am not picking him. Look for strong competition from Will Power and Josef Newgarden, as usual. Ryan Hunter-Reay rediscovered his groove and may gave his teammate a challenge as well.

Rookie of the Year- I’m  giving a slight edge to Felix Rosenqvist, mainly because of the team he drives for. Patricio O’Ward will present a strong challenge, especially with Harding Steinbrenner Racing receiving some technical support from Andretti, but Rosenqvist will provide strong support to Dixon in his title quest.

Indianapolis 500– Will Power. If any driver is gong to be the next back to back winner of the 500, Power is the one. He has become a master of ovals. Look for his dominance of May to continue. I can imagine the Victory Circle celebration if he returns there. Last year’s will seem tame.

Race Wins-  In 2018, four drivers each won three races. I think we will see a similar situation this season, although I look for Rossi to win a fourth race to give him the edge he needs for the title. Dixon will creep ever closer to the 50 win mark, but will need another year to get there and possibly two to pass Mario Andretti’s 52 victories.

A Brief Survey

I would like to hear from you. What stories did you enjoy the most last year? Which type of column did you not like?  Anything you would like to see more of, or less of? Please let me know.

The Roar

I will be heading to Daytona Saturday for The Roar Before the 24. Look for my coverage on Wildfire Sports. I may have some news regarding Wildfire soon.