Toronto, ON – Andretti Global driver Colton Herta earned the pole for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto event. Starting alongside him is his teammate, Kyle Kirkwood, 0.13 seconds slower on the treacherous 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street course at Exhibition Place.
‘‘This car has been a rocket ship all weekend,” said Herta, 24, earning his third pole of the season and 14th of his career. “The Gainbridge Honda has been very quick. We felt the Andretti Global cars would be on the pole. Kyle has done a good job getting there. It was a good fight and showing for our team.
“The last few years Andretti Global has been strong on the street courses. We’ve made another step this year. I love street courses because it is the toughest single lap you put together all year. It’s brutal not to have a win this year. It’s all about putting ourselves in position for a win but it just hasn’t happened. It’s good to have a teammate up front to help with strategies. This race strategy has big windows and there are a lot of different ways to win here in Toronto. But we have fast race cars.
“The hybrid is pretty straight forward here. You use it similarly to the Push to Pass. You can manipulate the balance of the car, which takes time to get use to. You use it on the straightaways like we did at Mid-Ohio.”
Herta won the pole with a time of 59.541 seconds and an average speed of 107.982 mph. It will be interesting to see who takes the lead into Turn One and which tire strategy is used in Sunday’s race. Two pit stops are expected.
“We did three laps on our tires on the first run,” explained Kirkwood. “We were a little bit behind on tire strategy because Colton ran two sets. To have a front row lock out on a street course gives us confidence, more ease and less tension. Colton has been the fastest driver all weekend long.”
Starting third is Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing, a team that has a technical alliance with Andretti Global, where all data is shared. Teammate David Malukas also advanced to the Fast Six, making it three out of four Andretti cars in the penultimate round, all Honda powered. Chevy powered Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was fourth and Romain Grosjean, driving for Juncos Hollinger Racing, ended up fifth.
“We got the car better and better every run,” said Rosenqvist. “My second lap was perfect but my third lap was a little off. It’s great for our team. It’s been good ever since David (Malukas) came into the team. He’s quick everywhere. I like to have that competition. It keeps us on our toes.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who leads the points championship, 35 points ahead of Penske’s Will Power, was penalized for qualifying interference when he came up behind two slower cars. The officials decided the Spaniard impeded the progress of Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward, who starts 14th. Palou starts 18th and his removal allowed Romain Grosjean to advance to the Fast Six.
The 85-lap Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
