Lundgaard takes pole at Honda Indy Toronto

TORONTO –

Christian Lundgaard learned to drive in the rain growing up in Denmark. He will have to put that to the test in the Honda Indy Toronto.

Lundgaard took wet pole pole at Toronto’s Exhibition Place on Saturday, finishing 0.3223 seconds ahead of Scott McLaughlin and 0.3933 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward. The Danish driver was pessimistic about his chances of winning the race, even though he will start at the top of the grid on Sunday.

“I do think we will be fast tomorrow, I just don’t think we will be the fastest car,” said Lundgaard. “I don’t think we showed that pace all weekend.

“I hope the improvements we’ve made from practice to qualifying will pay off for the changes we’ve made tomorrow.”

IndyCar series leader Alex Palou was one of the drivers eliminated in the first qualifying round. Palou had won four consecutive races heading into the Toronto event, but will start 15th on Sunday.

Reigning Honda Indy Toronto champion Scott Dixon failed to progress past the second qualifying round and is seventh on the grid. He is second in the IndyCar season standings behind Palou, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate.

Toronto’s Devlin DeFrancesco, the only Canadian driver in IndyCar, will start the race 22nd out of 27.

“I wouldn’t be disappointed with the win,” joked Lundgaard. “We’re leading the field, but it’s tough.”

Rain dictated the pace for Saturday afternoon qualifying, with a steady downpour leading to a track breakdown between the first and second groups in the first qualifying round. Although the sun was shining through the clouds and the track was starting to dry up for the second and final qualifying round, the mix of surfaces of the street course dried up at different speeds.

“It’s probably one of the toughest street courses I’ve ever ridden in the rain,” said McLaughlin. “The concrete dries faster than the asphalt.

“If you’re trying to figure that out, you have to do it in fractions of a second and trust that the car is going to stop.”

As the second group started the laps of the first lap, Agustin Canapino spun on the slippery, wet road, but quickly recovered without causing any damage to his car. Graham Rahal spun out soon after, with his front wing hitting a wall and requiring replacement.

The sun came out in time for the second qualifying round, but some sections, especially turn 8 in the northwest corner of the track, still had puddles as the top 12 went out.

O’Ward set the best lap of the second qualifying round in his final go-around to knock Dixon off the Firestone Fast 6.

McLaughlin also briefly lost control early in the final qualifying round, narrowly avoiding Marcus Ericsson.

It looked like McLaughlin would be penalized and drop out of second position, but after waiting 15 minutes the qualifying results were certified by race officials. McLaughlin was visibly angry as he sat in his car waiting for the verdict.

“I knew everyone was going faster from that point (in qualifying),” said McLaughlin. “I should lose my fastest laps so far, but I shouldn’t lose my best time because everyone was going fast and I didn’t slow anyone else down.

“So yes, sometimes I have to count to five.”

There is a 70 percent chance of more rain on Sunday, including thunderstorms. Lundgaard said that if it rains during the race visibility will be even worse as there will be more cars on the track than during qualifying.

“Luckily I’m up front and I don’t have to deal with that, at least in the beginning,” said Lundgaard.

“I’ll probably pass you,” McLaughlin joked.

“We’ll see,” replied Lundgaard.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 15, 2023.