Rosenqvist accepts blame for late-race shunt in Texas
Felix Rosenqvist doesn’t blame James Hinchcliffe for the final-stint shunt that cost him a shot at his first IndyCar victory in the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The IndyCar sophomore had closed up on Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda’s Scott Dixon throughout the penultimate stint after disposing of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud, on what was a dominant night for the CGR team.
However, soon after his final stop, as he tried to close on Dixon during the five-time champion’s out lap, Rosenqvist went to go around the outside of Hinchcliffe’s slower-moving Andretti Autosport machine and lost control, fishtailing and then spinning up into the Turn 2 wall.
Asked by NBC’s Marty Snider if he blamed Hinchcliffe, who had been running three laps down, last season’s IndyCar Rookie of the Year replied: “I can’t blame others for whatever situation I have.
“Obviously I came out on new tires and I don’t know if James had old tires there. It’s my judgment, I went for the outside. Probably shouldn’t have done it.
“It’s one of those things where you sit there and you’re going 40mph slower than you want to go behind another car, and it’s tempting to move up one lane. But it’s so slippery, you know?
“I just feel really sorry for my guys because our car was just unbelievable tonight, it was my breakthrough on ovals and I had a really good shot there I think, so I’m really disappointed.”
Rosenqvist insisted that his move hadn’t come from over-anxiety about trying to beat his teammate, who stopped a couple laps after the Swede.
“We pitted earlier [than Dixon] and we had clear track so we had two really good out-laps there,” he said. “Not sure how it would have played out: Scott was really super-quick as well so it was going to be close. But even a second place tonight I would have taken it.
“I didn’t feel like I was going crazy for the win. I just wanted to roll in with a good finish and good points, and one silly thing screwed everything up. It’s tough.”
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