Herta continues F1 testing with Toronto IndyCar pole – The Race

In the week he tested a Formula 1 car for the first time with McLaren, Colton Herta became the first repeat IndyCar pole winner of the 2022 season and denied Scott Dixon his first non-oval pole since 2016 in Toronto.

Herta performed a benchmark test for McLaren at Portimao but fought back for his second IndyCar visit to Toronto, where he leapt into order with a stunning final lap to take his ninth pole position of his short IndyCar career. .

He had gone two-tenths of a second faster than Josef Newgarden, who had the fastest time despite stepping on the wall at Turn 6, but he had to stop after that and Dixon took advantage of that time to take second at less than a tenth of Herta.

A reborn Dixon praised his #9 Ganassi crew, who have struggled with setup bets and inconsistencies this year, especially on the road courses, but were fast all weekend in Canada.

Newgarden, whose day also included an engine change that cost him practice time, held onto third place ahead of teammate Alexander Rossi.

Rossi placed two Andretti Autosport drivers in the top six after a tough and controversial race in mid-Ohio that featured several teammate crashes.

Four of IndyCar’s five rookies will start in the top 12 on Sunday at a track that 13 drivers have never driven due to its absence during the COVID pandemic since 2019.

David Malukas was the best of them. He had been delighted with his performance at Mid-Ohio, where he would have started higher than his eighth before being held up on his fastest lap, and followed that up by being on the cutting edge throughout his first visit to Toronto for Dale Coyne with HMD.

Mid-Ohio winner Scott McLaughlin was the second Penske driver in the top six and was more than six tenths off pole, but will be happy to start so close to the front anyway.

Although Juncos Hollinger has struggled on the street circuits this season, Callum Ilott set a fast pace and missed his move to the Fast Six by just 0.0476s, starting seventh.

His lap was all the more impressive as it was done with used tyres.

Felix Rosenqvist confirmed Arrow McLaren SP’s honor with an eighth place ahead of fellow Swede and Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson who starts just ahead of his 2022 qualifying average despite being disappointed with his drive on his final lap.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Christian Lundgaard was another impressive rookie in 10th ahead of Romain Grosjean, who crashed heavily in practice two and was visibly frustrated but bounced back well considering 11th.

Devlin DeFrancesco will have his best starting position in IndyCar on his first visit to Toronto in his native Canada after a crazy session.

He was fastest of anyone in the second group of the first qualifying segment but immediately put his car in the tires at turn 3.

Devlin Defrancesco was fastest in Group 2 qualifying…. but then thrown into the tire barrier.

The red flag is out. #INDYCAR

?: @PeacockTV pic.twitter.com/cOhMZOoMUN

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 16, 2022

Luckily Alex Palou stopped with an engine problem and pulled out a red flag before DeFrancesco was penalized for getting in the way of other competitors.

Then in Q2 he went straight into turn 2, tried to rejoin the track but unfortunate timing forced him to block team mate Herta and DeFrancesco received a troublesome penalty which cost him his two fastest laps and led to a 12th-place start.

Will Power has the best average of any driver this year, but his average start is 11.2, including his career-worst run with four straight races now outside the top 15. He will start 16th.

AJ Foyt Racing’s Kyle Kirkwood was on a lap that looked good enough to move on to Stage Two when he hit the wall at Turn 6 and admirably tried to finish the lap with broken suspension, but spun at the final corner in bringing out a yellow while Power was three tenths down and had to back up for the resulting yellow flag.

Kyle Kirkwood spun as he arrived at the qualifying start/finish line, just before Will Power crossed it.

Neither driver qualified for the next qualifying round. #INDYCAR

?: @PeacockTV pic.twitter.com/pB78Gjy82W

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 16, 2022

After two consecutive retirements while racing on the podium, Pato O’Ward’s struggles continued as he failed to make it out of the first qualifying group for Arrow McLaren SP.

He had punctured his only set of soft tires in practice and kissed the wall at the final corner, but only missed a tenth and would start 17th.

“I haven’t had the speed all weekend,” a frustrated O’Ward told Peacock TV.

“I haven’t had the speed all weekend. I have no other answer for you.

After winning the NTT P1 Award in Mid-Ohio, @PatricioOWard fails to advance to round 2 of qualifying for the #IndyTO.#INDYCAR // @hondaindy pic.twitter.com/hA6NhsVjTC

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 16, 2022

Simon Pagenaud was another top start in the first qualifying round, being the last winner at this track in 2019. Now at Meyer Shank Racing, he had been fast in practice but was in a messy second group and will start 18th.

The red flag is out for the defending series champion.

“What’s going on?” – @AlexPalou as his car slows down during qualifying at @HondaIndy.#INDYCAR // #IndyTO pic.twitter.com/8AM6xO82MW

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 16, 2022

O’Ward’s potential team-mate next year, Palou – who has been claimed by both Ganassi and McLaren for 2023 – stopped with five minutes left in group qualifying as his dash ran out turned off and has lost all power. It had to be towed.

He had also crashed, hitting the inside wall on his first visit to Toronto. He will start 24th.

Qualifying results