After some incident close to the wall in both free practices, no doubt the qualifying session was going to be any different. However, it did have some surprises.
After his pole position in 2023 at the same track, Kyle Kirkwood still proves his speed this weekend in Long Beach. Will he be able to recreate this feat two years after ? For that, let’s dip into the qualifying first.
Closer to the wall
Marcus Armstrong is on track first and set the first time of the session in 1:15.607. Quickly the time is going faster, as David Malukas takes it to a 1:08.377. Seven drivers are on soft tyres whereas the other six are on hard tyres for the beginning. Felix Rosenqvist is being held behind Josef Newgarden on his flying lap, which understandably annoyed the Meyer Shank Racing driver. Probably out of frustration, he goes wild into Turn 8. With less than five minutes on the clock, Will Power slightly touches the wall, it probably damaged a bit of his car. Lundgaard is first with a 1:07.209 time. On his last attempt, Colton Herta touched the wall at Turn 11 and nearly cost him advancing to round 2.
Drivers out : Power, Newgarden, Simpson, Robb, Daly, Defrancesco and Veekay
A tight call for group 2
After Santino Ferrucci sets the fastest time, it is Robert Shwartzman’s turn to take the lead with a 1:07.660 time. With only two minutes remaining, a lot of the more serious contenders are not in the top six. Nolan Siegel does an amazing performance by going p4 and taking Scott Dixon out of that top six. Santino Ferrucci is out in the run-off and damages his car after hitting the wall in Turn 8 at full speed. Kyle Kirkwood takes first place.
Drivers out : Dixon, Rahal, Rasmussen, Foster, Ilott, Shwartzman, Ferrucci and Abel
An heavy mistake
Pato O’Ward sets a great time target in a 1:10.580 time, as everyone behind him is in 1:11. With less than a minute on the clock, the track keeps improving and so are the drivers. Alexander Rossi takes p9 and has the time to do an extra lap. However, he decides to pit and remains there. At the very last second, a red flag is waved as Christian Lundgaard finds himself in a wall of tyres at Turn 9. This promotes Felix Rosenqvist into the fast six.
Drivers out : Armstrong, Rossi, O’Ward, Malukas, Siegel and Lundgaard.
Kyle Kirkwood on top
Marcus Ericsson almost put his car into the wall by locking his tyres. With a magnificent lap, Alex Palou takes first place with a 1:06.625 time. In the last moment, Kyle Kirkwood takes the fastest time out of nowhere and it’s pole position, in 1:06.192. Colton Herta takes second place and even with a last attempt, Alex Palou does not improve and stays third. Kyle Kirkwood felt comfortable since the start of the weekend but didn’t expect to be that high : “So happy to capitalize on it today. Front row lock out with Colton, I thought it was going to be him […] I’m shaking, that was great, that was such a good lap, such a good qualifying”.