Long Beach IndyCar: Rossi beats Dixon, Power to pole
Alexander Rossi delivered a brilliant qualifying lap to score his second consecutive Long Beach IndyCar pole by over a quarter of a second to beat Scott Dixon, the three Team Penske-Chevrolets and Graham Rahal.
Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
Andretti Autosport-Honda driver Rossi lapped the 1.968-mile course in 66.481s, at an average speed of 106.569mph, to beat Dixon by 0.2668sec. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver appeared to be on a faster run but abandoned his effort at Turn 9.
Will Power, despite struggling through practice, conjured up a time – albeit 0.4sec off pole – good enough to beat Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud, as well as Rahal's Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda.
Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) was the surprise exclusion at the end of Q2 as he tried to advance using scuffed alternate compound Firestones to save himself a new set for the Firestone Fast Six. He will start alongside Barber Motorsports Park winner Takuma Sato in the second RLLR-Honda, who tried the exact same tactic.
Patricio O’Ward slotted his Carlin Racing-Chevy into ninth alongside his former Indy Lights rival and teammate Colton Herta of Harding Steinbrenner Racing, with Marco Andretti in 11th.
Ganassi’s second car, that of Felix Rosenqvist, blew his chances of making it into the Firestone Fast Six, having just claimed second-fastest time during Q2. He locked up under braking at the end of the back straight, and skidded down the escape road where he thumped into a tire barrier, bringing out the red flags. He lost his two fastest times and will start 12th.
Tony Kanaan shunted at Turn 6 during Q1 Group 1, just after using an early switch to red alternate tires to lift his AJ Foyt Racing-Chevy into the top six to advance to Q2. The inevitable red flag that followed cost him his best times, but also occurred late enough in the segment that it killed off the chances of those who hadn’t yet set a time on alternate Firestones.
These included both Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports-Honda drivers, James Hinchcliffe and Marcus Ericsson, as well as Santino Ferrucci in the Dale Coyne Racing-Honda and Ed Jones in the Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevy.
Three-time Long Beach winner Sebastien Bourdais in the Dale Coyne Racing Vasser-Sullivan Honda was eliminated in Q1 Group 2 by a wall-brushing late effort from Herta, while Max Chilton (Carlin), Jack Harvey (Meyer Shank-SPM), Matheus Leist (Foyt), Zach Veach (Andretti) and Spencer Pigot (ECR) also dropped out.
Firestone Fast Six:
Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 1'06.4811 | |
2 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1'06.7479 | 0.2668 |
3 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 1'06.8748 | 0.3937 |
4 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 1'06.9096 | 0.4285 |
5 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 1'07.1877 | 0.7066 |
6 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1'07.3052 | 0.8241 |
Q2:
Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1'06.6566 | |
2 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 1'06.7644 | 0.1078 |
3 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 1'06.9328 | 0.2762 |
4 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 1'06.9620 | 0.3054 |
5 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1'07.0414 | 0.3848 |
6 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 1'07.0710 | 0.4144 |
7 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 1'07.1520 | 0.4954 |
8 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1'07.2626 | 0.6060 |
9 | 31 | Patricio O'Ward | Carlin | 1'07.2764 | 0.6198 |
10 | 88 | Colton Herta | Harding Racing | 1'07.7721 | 1.1155 |
11 | 98 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | 1'08.3746 | 1.7180 |
12 | 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1'08.4410 | 1.7844 |
Q1 Group 2:
POs. | # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 1'06.8621 | |
2 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1'07.0080 | 0.1459 |
3 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 1'07.1474 | 0.2853 |
4 | 98 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | 1'07.2040 | 0.3419 |
5 | 88 | Colton Herta | Harding Racing | 1'07.2201 | 0.3580 |
6 | 31 | Patricio O'Ward | Carlin | 1'07.2620 | 0.3999 |
7 | 18 | Sébastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | 1'07.3135 | 0.4514 |
8 | 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1'07.4577 | 0.5956 |
9 | 60 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | 1'07.5287 | 0.6666 |
10 | 4 | Matheus Leist | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 1'07.7317 | 0.8696 |
11 | 26 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 1'07.7822 | 0.9201 |
12 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1'07.8763 | 1.0142 |
Q1 Group 1:
Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1'07.7245 | |
2 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 1'07.7307 | 0.0062 |
3 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 1'07.7836 | 0.0591 |
4 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1'07.8102 | 0.0857 |
5 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 1'08.0121 | 0.2876 |
6 | 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1'08.0811 | 0.3566 |
7 | 19 | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | 1'08.1008 | 0.3763 |
8 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 1'08.1811 | 0.4566 |
9 | 20 | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1'08.7711 | 1.0466 |
10 | 7 | Marcus Ericsson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 1'08.9516 | 1.2271 |
11 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 3'22.3800 | 2'14.6555 |
GRID LINE-UP
Cla | # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 1'06.4811 | 106.569 | ||
2 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1'06.7479 | 0.2668 | 106.143 | |
3 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 1'06.8748 | 0.3937 | 105.941 | |
4 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 1'06.9096 | 0.4285 | 105.886 | |
5 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 1'07.1877 | 0.7066 | 105.448 | |
6 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1'07.3052 | 0.8241 | 105.264 | |
7 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 1'07.1520 | 0.6709 | 105.504 | |
8 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1'07.2626 | 0.7815 | 105.330 | |
9 | 31 | Patricio O'Ward | Carlin | 1'07.2764 | 0.7953 | 105.309 | |
10 | 88 | Colton Herta | Harding Racing | 1'07.7721 | 1.2910 | 104.539 | |
11 | 98 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | 1'08.3746 | 1.8935 | 103.617 | |
12 | 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1'08.4410 | 1.9599 | 103.517 | |
13 | 19 | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | 1'08.1008 | 1.6197 | 104.034 | |
14 | 18 | Sébastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | 1'07.3135 | 0.8324 | 105.251 | |
15 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 1'08.1811 | 1.7000 | 103.911 | |
16 | 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1'07.4577 | 0.9766 | 105.026 | |
17 | 20 | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1'08.7711 | 2.2900 | 103.020 | |
18 | 60 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | 1'07.5287 | 1.0476 | 104.915 | |
19 | 7 | Marcus Ericsson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 1'08.9516 | 2.4705 | 102.750 | |
20 | 4 | Matheus Leist | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 1'07.7317 | 1.2506 | 104.601 | |
21 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 3'22.3800 | 2'15.8989 | 35.007 | |
22 | 26 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 1'07.7822 | 1.3011 | 104.523 | |
23 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1'07.8763 | 1.3952 | 104.378 |
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