Qualifying Report: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
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LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 18, 2026)--Driving the No. 4 Combitrans Chevrolet, Caio Collet continues to progress in his rookie season on the NTT INDYCAR circuit.
In his first time ever to the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit in southern California, he clocked a lap time of 1 minute, 7.9282 seconds (104.298 mph) to start 20th in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. He is sandwiched between fellow rookies Dennis Hauger (19th) and Mick Schumacher (21st). Collet used two sets of the Firestone alternate compound (softer) red-rimmed tires in his qualifying round, instead of starting on the primary compound tires to log a "banker lap" in case there was a red flag to halt the session.
"So far, we had a clean weekend, obviously missing a little bit of performance there in qualifying," the
24-year-old Brazilian said afterwards. "I felt that we did a good improvement from set one to set two (of the tires). Maybe a couple of things could have gone a little bit better from my side on my lap, it was not really a perfect lap. I think I had maybe one tenth and a half there that I left on the table, but at the end, I think, just missing a little bit general performance. Hopefully, we can improve the car a little bit for tomorrow. I think the race car looks a little bit better than the one-lap pace so far. So hopefully we can maximize the good strategy and put on a good result."
Driving the No. 14 Homes for Our Troops Chevrolet, Santino Ferrucci will start 22nd just behind his teammate after posting a lap time of 1 minute, 7.9340 seconds (104.289mph). Ferrucci had been struggling in the two practices prior to the qualifying session.
"I don't think it's a big shock--we've been struggling all weekend long, more than we have in previous years," said Ferrucci. "We've just been unlucky with red flags and timing and everything else in between. It's just been really difficult. We haven't had the chance to really try much and make a ton of changes. We've struggled with the same few things.
"It's (the run) only two tenths off, which unfortunately, is the difference between starting in the top 10 or starting 20th," he added. "So it's not like we're out to lunch, but it's just annoying, because I know we're better than this. We're going to make some changes for the race tomorrow, and hope we come through the field."
He did just that last year when he had to start 27th after brushing the wall in qualifying. He finished 11th last year.
Felix Rosenqvist won the NTT P1 Award with his lap time of 1 minute, 7.4635 seconds (105.017mph); it was his seventh career pole. Pato O'Ward, Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood, David Malukas and Scott Dixon rounded out the Firestone Fast Six.
Teams will get a 30-minute warmup tomorrow before the 90-lap race which will be broadcast on FOX, starting at 5:30 pm ET.
