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    2026 Grand Prix of Long Beach: Felix Rosenqvist leads qualifying
    • April 19, 2026

    • Identical Porsche 911 GT3 cars compete in the Porsche Carrera...

      Identical Porsche 911 GT3 cars compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup on day two of the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)

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    Identical Porsche 911 GT3 cars compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup on day two of the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)

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    LONG BEACH — Felix Rosenqvist is taking the ‘Longview’ to winning poles in the IndyCar NTT Series.

    Driving the No. 60 SiriusXM Acura with a special ‘Green Day’ livery for the weekend, Rosenqvist earned the pole on Saturday for the 51st annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

    “This isn’t a ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” Rosenqvist said. “We’re rocking the Green Day Acura this weekend, so this was exactly what we’re looking for.”

    Rosenqvist’s Firestone Fast Six lap time – 1 minute, 7.463 seconds – was just four-hundredths of a second quicker than Pato O’Ward, and earns the Meyer Shank Racing team its second pole of the weekend and Rosenqvist’s second in three races at Long Beach.

    “I love to shootout format, and when they announced it, I really wanted to be a part of that because I think it’s such a cool thing,” Rosenqvist said. “Huge day for Acura and an amazing day for Meyer Shank Racing.”

    The pole winner ahead of the 2024 race in Long Beach, Rosenqvist’s best finish in five career starts was fourth last year.

    “This is definitely one of them where you can settle in the lead, it’s going to be huge,” Rosenqvist said. “You can still pass here, and it’s still open with strategies. Like, we’re still not sure about the tires.”

    O’Ward solidified his best starting position in Long Beach with a 1:07.507 lap.

    “I’ve been happy with the car that I’ve been given,” said O’Ward, who had started no better than … in … previous appearances in Southern California. “It feels good to be a bit more in attack mode rather than defense, and it’s good to be on the front row with my pal, ‘Fro’.”

    Alex Palou, who has already won twice this season, was running the fastest lap of the weekend until locking up his right front brake coming around Turn 11 and qualified third in 1:07.650.

    “It’s painful,” Palou said. “I just made a small mistake in the last corner, and it’s game over.”

    Defending race champion Kyle Kirkwood was unable to get his tires to stick, slipping and sliding all over the 1.986-mile course and qualifying fourth in 1:07.619.

    “Maybe it’s because I was more aggressive in the steering,” the two-time Long Beach winner said. “We have a good car, so all things forward.”

    Kirkwood was the fastest during practice on Saturday morning, but could not match the same pace in the Fast Six.

    David Malukas was the fastest heading into the Fastest Six and chose to attempt to qualify first, but bounced off the wall out of Turn 8 and will start fifth in 1:07.650.

    “We struggled to get the (tire) temps up, and that’s why we wanted to go right away,” Malukas said. “We did everything we could, but it just wasn’t ready.”

    Scott Dixon snuck inside the Fastest Six group past Will Power, who was the fastest during practice on Friday. Dixon, who last won in Long Beach, will start on the outside of Row 3 after sixth in 1:07.856.

    “Better than yesterday, but I don’t know if it’s enough to be able to get us home on Sunday,” Dixon said.

    In practice on Saturday morning, Nolan Siegel ruined his left front wheel after crashing out of Turn 8, while Mick Schumacher ran into the wall around the fountain, and Romain Grosjean destroyed his right front, going head-on into the wall out of Turn 1.

    All three will start in the back for today’s race, which begins at 1:30 p.m. PT.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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