In a qualifying session full of surprises and mixed conditions, Christian Lundgaard sprung the final twist by capturing the pole for the Honda Indy Toronto on Saturday.
Lundgaard earned his second pole of this season and of his young NTT IndyCar Series career with a time of 1 minute, 4.1567 seconds in the No. 45 Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Lundgaard’s other pole came in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
The pole proved how RLL’s focus on improving its pace on temporary street circuits like the 11-turn, 1.786-mile course around Toronto’s Exhibition Place is paying off. The three-car team’s previous best qualifying performance this season on a street course was 11th by Lundgaard at the season-opening race at St. Petersburg in early March.
“I have a history, at least in go-karts, of being fast in the rain,” Lundgaard said. “I’ve only driven in the rain only once in this car, which was Indy GP last year, and we weren’t competitive.
“The Hy-Vee Vivid Clear Rx car today was there. I can’t thank this team enough. I know this is wet, and it’s tricky, but looking at where we were on street circuits earlier this year and last year, we’ve made huge progress.”
Every driver in the Firestone Fast Six session switched to Firestone slick tires on a drying track after using rain tires during the slippery second session. That created some fish-tailing, heart-in-throat moments, as all six drivers scrambled for grip in the few areas where the track remained wet. A handful of drivers brushed the wall during the thrilling, unpredictable final session as the rear of their cars side-stepped and sashayed exiting corners.
Scott McLaughlin will start second, tying his season best, after a lap of 1:04.4790. McLaughlin spun early in the Firestone Fast Six and lost his best time to that point as a penalty for triggering a local yellow, but he turned his quickest lap in the final moments of the session – like nearly every driver – as the circuit began to dry following an intense shower earlier in qualifying.
Pato O’Ward qualified third at 1:04.5500. Marcus Ericsson will join him in the second row after qualifying fourth at 1:04.9091.
Felix Rosenqvist will start fifth after a lap of 1:04.9423, as Arrow McLaren and Team Penske each put two drivers in the Firestone Fast Six. Will Power was the second Penske driver in the first three rows, qualifying a season-best sixth at 1:05.0703.
The three-round qualifying session was almost as noteworthy for who missed the Firestone Fast Six as for those who made the final group.
Championship leader Alex Palou, who leads by 110 points over teammate Scott Dixon, encountered the first hiccup of his dominant season in the first round. He failed to advance as light rain started in the final 90 seconds of his group while he and other drivers were on slick tires and will start a season-low 15th. Palou’s worst previous starting spot this season was seventh at St. Petersburg and Texas.
“We really didn’t put together everything we had,” Palou said. “We had a lot more pace than that, and we couldn’t improve on alternates (tires). It’s a shame we’re going to have to start from the back, but we know we have a fast car and can make it from there.”
Reigning Toronto race winner Dixon also didn’t make the Firestone Fast Six, just missing advancing from the second group by .1128 of a second. He will start seventh.
Kyle Kirkwood, fastest in Friday practice and second in practice Saturday morning, will start eighth. Josef Newgarden, third in the standings, will start 11th.
Live coverage of the 85-lap race starts at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday on Peacock and the IndyCar Radio Network in the United States and TSN in Canada.
NTT IndyCar Series
Streets of Toronto – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Honda Indy Toronto – July 15, 2023
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
1. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:04.1567 (100.217)
2. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:04.4790 (99.716)
3. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:04.5500 (99.607)
4. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:04.9091 (99.055)
5. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:04.9423 (99.005)
6. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:05.0703 (98.810)
7. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:12.3123 (88.914)
8. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 01:12.3316 (88.891)
9. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:12.5611 (88.609)
10. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 01:13.5600 (87.406)
11. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:13.6353 (87.317)
12. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:15.0226 (85.702)
13. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:01.5325 (104.491)
14. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:14.8356 (85.916)
15. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:01.6340 (104.319)
16. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 01:14.8759 (85.870)
17. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:02.0296 (103.654)
18. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 01:15.4540 (85.212)
19. (30) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:02.2035 (103.364)
20. (60) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 01:16.0415 (84.554)
21. (20) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 01:02.2554 (103.278)
22. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:16.0598 (84.533)
23. (51) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 01:02.3978 (103.042)
24. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 01:16.2870 (84.282)
25. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 01:02.6538 (102.621)
26. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 01:18.9856 (81.402)
27. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:29.3774 (71.938)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2023/7/1194246/lundgaard-tops-tricky-toronto-indycar-qualifying