Christian Lundgaard deftly overcame track conditions that vacillated between dry and wet to win the pole position for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto as a rain shower during qualifying turned the starting lineup upside down.
Lundgaard qualified first in his No. 45 Dallara-Honda with a lap of 1 minute, 4.1567 seconds on the 11-turn, 1.786 mile circuit near the end of the session as the track began to dry out.
Scott McLaughlin was second with a 1:04.4790 lap in the final round, followed by Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ercisson, Felix Rosenqvist (who was in a backup No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet after a crash in practice) and Will Power.
QUALIFYING RESULTS: Click here for Honda Indy Toronto qualifying speeds | Round 1, Group 1 | Round 1, Group 2 | Round 2 l Round 3
ALTERNATE OR PRIMARY: Tire designations for the start
INDYCAR IN TORONTO: Schedule, details for watching this weekend on Peacock
It’s the second pole position of the season for Lundgaard, who qualified first for the first time in his IndyCar career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course two months ago. The Rahal Lettermen Lanigan Racing driver, who was the series’ 2022 rookie of the year, has made the Fast Six in four of eight races on road or street courses this season.
“The car was there, and I can’t thank this team enough,” Lundgaard told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch on Peacock. “I know that it’s wet, and it’s tricky. But looking where we were on street circuits earlier this year, we’ve made huge progress. It’s always important to be at the front. We don’t know the weather tomorrow, but we’re at the front, and we just need to take off.”
McLaughlin had lost his best time after spinning early in the Fast Six but still managed the second-quickest lap late in the session as the circuit kept drying.
“That was a gnarly session,” O’Ward said. “That kept me on my toes every single lap. Obviously, it was a drying race track, and it just kept getting better and better.”
POLE POSITION‼️@lundgaardoff • @HyVee pic.twitter.com/b2fdsOTdBh
— Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (@RLLracing) July 15, 2023
Scott Dixon, who has a series-best four victories at Toronto (including last year), will start seventh after just missing the final round. Kyle Kirkwood, who earned his first career IndyCar win on the streets of Long Beach this season, will start eighth). Romain Grosjean (ninth) and Josef Newgarden (11th) also will start in the front half of the 27-car grid after an eventful session.
Points leader Alex Palou will start a season-worst 15th after failing to advance from the first round as rain began to fall toward the end of the Group 1 session.
“We got a lap in when it was dry, but we couldn’t really get all of it,” Palou said. “We had a bit more speed from the No. 10 car, so it’s a shame.”
Palou, who has built a massive 110-point championship lead through nine of 17 races, will need another Toronto rebound after starting 22nd and finishing sixth last year in his track debut.
“We’ll have to work hard (Sunday),” Palou said. “You never know what can happen on a street course, especially here in Toronto. I’m sure it’s going to be a busy day tomorrow for the guys in the stand calling the strategy and for me trying to make up spots. But, I’m sure there are going to be plenty of opportunities.”
There are many contenders starting midpack or worse. Colton Herta, who was fastest in Saturday morning practice, qualified 14th.
“We just didn’t have the speed that we needed in that session,” Herta said. “We’ve been really quick in the dry this whole weekend, but unfortunately we didn’t have it in the wet and just got knocked out of position. Although, I think it was good to get a little bit of time running in the wet in case we have a rain race tomorrow. In the rain, the tire traction decreases a lot and can be especially tough on street courses, but we’ll be ready to perform well on track tomorrow.”
No pole for Colton Herta!
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 15, 2023
The two-time defending pole winner is bumped OUT in Round 1. #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/HZBKZ8alrs
Alexander Rossi, the only Arrow McLaren driver who failed to advance from the first round, qualified 26th after an electrical problem.
”My steering wheel failed in the braking zone, and I didn’t have the ability to shift or pull clutch,” Rossi said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s a real shame because the car was great and had what we needed to qualify without a problem. We will regroup and be ready to fight from the back tomorrow.”
Tom Blomqvist will start 20th in his IndyCar debut for Meyer Shank Racing in place of Simon Pagenaud, who continues to recover from his crash at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
“The rain definitely spiced things up for my baptism of fire, let’s say,” Blomqvist said . “I survived, which is the most important thing. I am learning every step of the way. I think now I have about two hours and 10 minutes of driving in the car, so it’s always a steep learning curve for me.”
Team co-owner Mike Shank has said Blomqvist has indicated being evaluated this weekend for a full-time IndyCar ride next year.
“I put him in the car as a test; I wanted to see how he adapted to something that was totally different,” Shank said . “I know he can be hard on himself, all drivers want to be up front, but we are happy with where he is at. He is progressing just like we wanted him to and making all the right strides to keep improving. We’ve definitely thrown a lot at him, and it’s been like drinking from a fire hose for him, but he’s doing great and just where we thought he would be.”
Here’s the IndyCar starting lineup for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto on an 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit (qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed):
ROW 1
1. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 1 minute, 4.1567 seconds (100.217 mph)
2. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 1:04.4790 (99.716)
ROW 2
3. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 1:04.5500 (99.607)
4. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 1:04.9091 (99.055)
ROW 3
5. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 1:04.9423 (99.005)
6. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 1:05.0703 (98.810)
ROW 4
7. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 1:12.3123 (88.914)
8. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 1:12.3316 (88.891)
ROW 5
9. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 1:12.5611 (88.609)
10. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 1:13.5600 (87.406)
ROW 6
11. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 1:13.6353 (87.317)
12. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 1:15.0226 (85.702)
ROW 7
13. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 1:01.5325 (104.491)
14. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 1:14.8356 (85.916)
ROW 8
15. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 1:01.6340 (104.319)
16. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 1:14.8759 (85.870)
ROW 9
17. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 1:02.0296 (103.654)
18. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 1:15.4540 (85.212)
ROW 10
19. (30) Jack Harvey, Honda, 1:02.2035 (103.364)
20. (60) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 1:16.0415 (84.554)
ROW 11
21. (20) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 1:02.2554 (103.278)
22. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 1:16.0598 (84.533)
ROW 12
23. (51) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 1:02.3978 (103.042)
24. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 1:16.2870 (84.282)
ROW 13
25. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 1:02.6538 (102.621)
26. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 1:18.9856 (81.402)
ROW 14
27. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 1:29.3774 (71.938)
