Felix Rosenqvist tops the first Qualifying Day of the 107° Running of the Indy 500.
Arrow McLaren shows impressive form and tops, with Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi making it a McLaren 1-2. Alex Palou is the fastest Chip Ganassi Racing, a team that loses its spot of solo favorites for the pole position tomorrow.At the back of the field, Last Chance Qualifying is composed of three of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars, Lundgaard, Harvey, Rahal, and Dale Coyne Racing’s rookie Sting Ray Robb. One of them will not qualify for the Indy 500.Felix Rosenqvist, on his second attempt, was able to set the third fastest qualifying attempt in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with an average of 233.947 mph. He will be the last one to take the Fast 12 session and is a good bet for the Pole Position.Right behind him, it was his teammate Alexander Rossi. The 2016 Indy 500 champion did not have to go out again from his garage. His first run was sufficient enough to guarantee him second place, and a prime spot on the Fast 12.It was a great afternoon for Arrow McLaren, with Tony Kanaan and Pato O’Ward also being able to make it to the Fast 12. After achieving the same speed as Ed Carpenter on his second run, the Brazilian was able to get an average of 233.347 mph which, at the end, got him to 6th place. The Mexican didn’t have to have another attempt after his first go, he is 8th for tomorrow.Chip Ganassi Racing was also able to get its four cars in the Fast 12. Alex Palou was 3rd with a 233.398. Scott Dixon was 5th, Takuma Sato was 8th and Marcus Ericsson was able only to snatch 10th place. CGR is no longer the dominant force that it was speculated to be after the three days of practice. But, the team that got pole and won last season still are favorites at least to have a car on the front row.Ed Carpenter Racing had a solid session, but, compared to the last seasons, the team had a downgrade in pace. Rinus VeeKay could get up to 4th place, but was the only ECR driver to get a spot in the Fast 12 tomorrow. Ed Carpenter was on the doorstep of making it, but managed only a 13th place, and Conor Daly could not step up to the pace of his teammates and is only 16th.
AJ Foyt was a surprise on the field, the team got their two cars on the Fast 12 on their first attempts. With an impressive run by rookie Benjamin Pedersen and an even better one for Santino Ferrucci, they qualified 11th and 9th respectively. A big improvement over the last few seasons.Team Penske could not step up to the pace of the Ganassis and McLarens, as it was expected of them. The team keeps struggling with qualifying pace. This session saw some strange decisions and sealed the team’s fate. Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden decided not to take the first attempt in qualifying, and get out behind all of the field, hoping for a better race track. Then, in the end, Josef Newgarden decided to exclude his run that guaranteed him 16th place on the field for a chance to qualify better. But, he did a worse attempt and ended up 17th overall. The Kiwi was just able to get to 14th position and only Will Power could get a spot on the Fast 12.The fight at the end of the field was Hollywood-worthy, with 6 cars threatening to be on the last 4 spots, getting them to bump day.
Impressively, Abel Motorsports’ car of RC Enerson was not one of them. With their only run, he could snatch an average good enough for 29th place in the end. Their David and Goliath’s history ended in glory, as they make it to the field of the Indy 500.Also, Juncos Hollinger Racing got good enough laps with both drivers to be safe. Callum Ilott was impressive with the new chassis and, even though he didn’t get the fastest lap overall inside the team, they reached their goal which was not to make it into the Bump Day. Argentinian rookie Agustin Canapino made contact with the wall, but his speed before then was enough to get him out of the danger zone.
But, instead, the four Rahal Letterman Lanigans and the two Dale Coyne Racings were on the cusp of bump day.When the last hour of qualifying started, Malukas, Robb, Harvey, and Rahal were in the Bump zone. But, the No. 18 impressive youngster could get a great run on his final attempt, which made him go up to 23rd place, relegating Christian Lundgaard to 31st and Katherine Legge to the bubble.But, neither Robb, Harvey, Rahal, or Lundgaard were able to improve Legge’s 231.070 mph lap, which made the Brit guarantee her spot on the 500. She will be the first female driver on the grid since Simona De Silvestro in 2021.The four drivers cited above will go for three spots at the 500, and one will no longer continue in the month of May.
1. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Dallara-Chevy, 02:33.8810 (233.947)
2. (7) Alexander Rossi, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.1569 (233.528)
3. (10) Alex Palou, Dallara-Honda, 02:34.2432 (233.398)
4. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.2449 (233.395)
5. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 02:34.2584 (233.375)
6. (66) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.2768 (233.347)
7. (11) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 02:34.2932 (233.322)
8. (5) Pato O’Ward, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.3394 (233.252)
9. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.4093 (233.147)
10. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Dallara-Honda, 02:34.4866 (233.030)
11. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.6797 (232.739)
12. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.6932 (232.719)
13. (33) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.7128 (232.689)
14. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.7206 (232.677)
15. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Dallara-Honda, 02:34.7311 (232.662)
16. (20) Conor Daly, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.8833 (232.433)
17. (2) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Chevy, 02:34.9039 (232.402)
18. (23) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy, 02:35.0837 (232.133)
19. (28) Romain Grosjean, Dallara-Honda, 02:35.1744 (231.997)
20. (06) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 02:35.2032 (231.954)
21. (26) Colton Herta, Dallara-Honda, 02:35.2055 (231.951)
22. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 02:35.2539 (231.878)
23. (18) David Malukas, Dallara-Honda, 02:35.3270 (231.769)
24. (98) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 02:35.3857 (231.682)
25. (24) Stefan Wilson, Dallara-Chevy, 02:35.4083 (231.648)
26. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Dallara-Honda, 02:35.6061 (231.353)
27. (78) Agustin Canapino, Dallara-Chevy, 02:35.6287 (231.320)
28. (77) Callum Ilott, Dallara-Chevy, 02:35.7212 (231.182)
29. (50) RC Enerson, Dallara-Chevy, 02:35.7574 (231.129)
30. (44) Katherine Legge, Dallara-Honda, 02:35.7971 (231.070)
