ELKHART LAKE, Wis. ( Associated Press) – Alexander Rossi won his first pole in three years and will now look to break a losing streak that is just as long.
Rossi will start from pole on Sunday at Road America, where his last IndyCar Series win will be 44 races earlier on June 23, 2019.
“It’s so crazy to think it’s been so long,” Rossi said.
Rossi completed a 14-turn, 4.048-mile permanent road route considered one of the best in the world in qualifying in 1 minute, 44.8656 seconds on Saturday. His lap put the Andretti Autosport driver on pole for the first time since Belle Isle in 2019, three weeks before his last win.
“It’s been a long time since we got into this situation,” Rossi said. “It’s amazing. It’s great. We’ll enjoy it, but we have a job to do.”
The American became the eighth individual pole winner through eight qualifying seasons, the highest resemblance to IndyCar since 1961. There were nine different pole winners that season.
Team Penske’s Joseph Newgarden finished second and was followed by Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palu, the defending series champion, and Marcus Ericsson, the Indianapolis 500 winner.
Andretti’s Colton Herta was fifth to give Honda four drivers in the top five, while Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward joined Newgarden as the only Chevrolet entries to advance to the Fast Six round of qualifying. .
IndyCar pointed to leader Will Power, who was back on top after his win in Detroit last weekend, failed to exit the first group and finished 15th. Performed by Alex Tagliani in 2004, IndyCar never got a winner from 13th place.
Simona de Silvestro made her first start of the season, qualifying 27th and last in the field, as she suited up for her first IndyCar road course race since 2015. She and Tatiana Calderon gave IndyCar a pair of women in the same race for the first time. Since the conclusion of the 2013 season.
Meanwhile, Rossi has been on a roll for the past three weeks.
He finished fifth in the Indianapolis 500 and was runner-up in Detroit last week. He also confirmed last week that he is leaving Andretti Autosport at the end of his seventh season to drive for McLaren next year.
“I don’t think that’s a revelation. We’re not doing anything different,” Rossi said. “Mistakes are minimized, chaotic incidents are relatively under control by blowing a clutch this morning.”
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