The IndyCar championship resumes tonight after a short break with the Portland Grand Prix, an opportunity to follow the progress of Romain Grosjean (Coyne), qualified in eleventh place on the starting grid.
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Due to Formula 1 still on summer break until August 23 at Zandvoort, motorsport fans can spend their warm summer evening this Sunday following the Portland round in IndyCar.
Located in the green region of Oregon, in the northwest of the United States, the road circuit is partly laid out on the local airport and generally offers spectacular races.
Rosenqvist snatched pole from Palou
Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank Racing) has claimed pole position at Portland after a particularly tight Fast Six. The Indy 500 winner edged out Alex Palou (Ganassi) by only two hundredths of a second, while Will Power (Andretti) also made it into the top 3.
Already the fastest during the Top 12, Rosenqvist confirmed his great form at the decisive moment. The Swede posted a time of 58.482 seconds to secure pole position ahead of the reigning IndyCar champion. Power took third place, ahead of his teammate Marcus Ericsson, pushed back by two tenths of a second from the benchmark. Rinus VeeKay (Juncos Hollinger) and Kyffin Simpson (Ganassi) complete the Fast Six.
Next on the grid are the title contender Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti), veteran Graham Rahal (RLL), the first representative of Team Penske David Malukas and the best rookie Dennis Hauger (Coyne) to round out the top 10.
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Grosjean ready for the fight
Malukas will however have to drop six positions on the grid due to a penalty following an unauthorized engine change during the previous round held at Nashville Superspeedway. A significant handicap when approaching a crucial race in the championship fight where the young American is second behind Palou.
Teammate of Hauger at Coyne, Romain Grosjean posted the 11th fastest qualifying time and will join his teammate on the fifth row at the start. The French driver lined up between Hauger and Scott Dixon (Ganassi) and will be able to try to move up the standings as the race progresses.
Disappointment at Penske and McLaren in the midfield, notably with Christian Lundgaard as the last after a hybrid system failure during qualifying. Finally, note that Mick Schumacher (RLL) will start at the back of the grid after being eliminated without glory in Q1
The race start will be given this Sunday at 10 p.m. French time, to be followed live on Canal + Sport.
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