Colton Herta Herta takes pole at Honda Indy Toronto as big names falter in qualifying

Colton Herta will have pole position for Sunday’s running of the Ontario Honda Dealers Toronto Indy.

The Andretti Global driver posted a qualifying time of 59.5431 seconds on Saturday in the NTT IndyCar Series event as he seeks his first win of the season at the Exhibition Place street course.

Andretti teammate Kyle Kirkwood placed second (59.6375), while Meyer Shank’s Felix Rosenqvist was third (59.8252).

Alex Palou, the current championship leader, was penalized for interference during the first qualifying segment and will start 18th as a result.

Last year, the Spaniard of Chip Ganassi Racing found himself starting 15th and rallied to finish third.

“I do not agree, but it is what it is,” Palou said in a trackside interview. “It doesn’t help for sure. As long as we have a fast car with me tomorrow, it’s frustrating, but it is what it is.”

Defending champion Christian Lundgaard, four-time champion Scott Dixon and third-ranked Pato O’Ward were among other notables that did not advance past the first round of qualifying.

Australia’s Will Power, who won the most recent race last week in Iowa, was eliminated in the second round.

France’s Theo Pourchaire, of Arrow McLaren, arrived at Toronto’s Pearson Airport less than two hours before the qualifying session to replace Alexander Rossi, his teammate who broke his thumb in Friday’s practice session.

Pourchaire, the reigning Formula 2 champion, will start his sixth race of the season second-from-last in 26th after his lap time of 1:01.6071.

The McLaren team is racing with heavy hearts this weekend after the death of spotter Bob Jeffrey. The team placed stickers on its cars and equipment in memory of its longtime `eye in the sky.’