Felix Rosenqvist has secured pole position for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Meyer Shank Racing driver set the fastest time in a very exciting single-car Firestone Fast 6 session, beating Pato O’Ward to second place by just 0.044 seconds. Reigning champion Alex Palou qualified third and will share the second row with Kyle Kirkwood.

Big names eliminated in the opening segment

In the first qualifying segment, the opening group appeared slightly stronger than the second, resulting in several big names being eliminated early. In that first group, Marcus Armstrong and Marcus Ericsson were surprise non-qualifiers, while Felix Rosenqvist set the fastest time ahead of Pato O’Ward, David Malukas, Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, and an impressive Rinus VeeKay. Just how tight the margins were became clear as Armstrong missed out on advancing by only three thousandths of a second.

The second group was just as close, with the entire top six covered by only 0.19 seconds. The most notable eliminations in this segment were Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi, while Scott Dixon surprisingly set the fastest time. Alex Palou, Will Power, Kyle Kirkwood, Kyffin Simpson, and Graham Rahal also advanced to the second round of qualifying.

Extra pressure in the second segment

With the new single-car qualifying format in the Firestone Fast 6, setting the fastest time in the Fast 12 carries added importance — it allows the driver to choose their position in the Fast 6 qualifying order.

That honor went to Malukas, who was 0.01 seconds quicker than Palou in second. Rosenqvist, Kirkwood, O’Ward, and Dixon also advanced to the pole shootout. A surprise elimination was Power: after being fastest on Friday, the Australian fell just 0.027 seconds short of a spot in the Fast 6.

Rosenqvist fastest in thrilling Fast 6

For the Fast 6, all drivers selected a set of used red tires, with the order reversed from the Fast 12. This allowed the first driver on track to benefit from the residual heat left on the surface from the previous session.

Malukas was first out and, with a 1:07.65, was nearly four tenths of a second slower than his Fast 12 time set on new tires. Palou then went more than two tenths quicker, before Rosenqvist improved by another seven hundredths.

Kirkwood slotted his car between Palou and Malukas, while O’Ward delivered a very quick lap but ultimately fell short by just four hundredths. Dixon was the last to take to the track but was unable to match the pace of his rivals. As a result, Rosenqvist remained at the top of the timesheets, earning the Swede his seventh career pole position in the IndyCar Series.

Full results of the qualifying session at Long Beach