Kirkwood defeats Ericsson and Grosjean for first IndyCar pole

Kyle Kirkwood took a maiden IndyCar pole position for Andretti Autosport, usurping ex-Formula 1 drivers Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean in a tight battle at Long Beach.

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward – the championship leader – had been the pole favourite, having topped both practice sessions, but a lock-up at Turn 9 cost O’Ward time and he didn’t have enough fuel to go for another lap.

Not happy with my lap. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. We will fight from 6th tomorrow🥊

— Pato O'Ward (@PatricioOWard) April 15, 2023

Just after, Kirkwood went two tenths clear of Andretti team-mate Grosjean, then cruising into the pits expecting his first pole.

But Ganassi driver Ericsson kept it interesting until the final corner as he went just 0.0375s slower than Kirkwood to continue his strong street qualifying form.

Kirkwood rewards Andretti’s faith in him after a crash-heavy season at AJ Foyt as a rookie, and then two crashes at St Pete and one at Texas to start the season.

My mannnnn 💪🏼

— Logan Sargeant (@LoganSargeant) April 15, 2023

It’s Andretti’s second street pole in a row after Grosjean’s St Pete success, and the Frenchman was the first to come over and congratulate Kirkwood after his lap, claiming he himself had pole in the bag before a mistake at the final hairpin.

Ericsson took second – despite being on used tyres compared to Kirkwood’s fresh softs – ahead of Grosjean, 2021 champion Alex Palou, Scott Dixon making it three Ganassi cars in the top five and O’Ward rounding out the top six.

In the fourth Ganassi, Marcus Armstrong returned after missing the Texas race because of his road/street course schedule.

The Kiwi was rapid and made it to the fight for the top 12 in Q2 but carried so much speed into Turn 9 on his last hot lap that his car careered out of control into the tyre barrier, ending his session. He’ll start 12th.

.@MarcusArmstrng's day is done early as he's in the tires in qualifying in Round 2.#INDYCAR // #AGPLB pic.twitter.com/72fZZJAVVO

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 15, 2023

His late crash set up a one-lap shootout for the top 12 drivers to try and graduate to the Fast Six pole shootout.

That created some late drama, with Grosjean (11th to 1st), Dixon (8th to 6th) and Ericsson (7th to 4th) jumping into the top six at the expense of last year’s winner Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden and Felix Rosenqvist.

Newgarden will start eighth, behind Herta and ahead of Penske team-mate Scott McLaughlin, who was “pissed” at his bad luck in traffic during the session.

Rosenqvist starts 10th ahead of double winner and new Arrow McLaren driver Alexander Rossi in 11th.

Reigning champion Will Power will start 13th after failing to graduate from Group 1 by just 0.0067s.

Six drivers go through from each of the first two groups in Q1, so Power was the first to miss out, with Simon Pagenaud – starting 14th – as the first to fail in Group 2.

The first casualty of the group stages was David Malukas, who whacked the wall at Turn 9, and then crashed later in the lap.

Qualifying is done for @malukasdavid after this incident in Round 1.#INDYCAR // #AGPLB pic.twitter.com/AOUQAZ5vZz

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 15, 2023

He said that “I just have a little bit of a headache. Medical is going to keep looking at me for the next couple of days”, before adding that he “thinks” he is clear to race but needs to be assessed in the morning.

Malukas is set to start 25th. He enters the race sixth in the points.

Callum Ilott is seventh in the points and is another sophomore driver alongside Malukas who had a tough Saturday.

Ilott crashed in practice and blamed a kerb that had been reinstalled for Saturday, having been absent in the Friday practice session. He was 22nd in qualifying, while team-mate Agustin Canapino – 12th in the points – is due to line up 26th.

Qualifying Results