Lundgaard on pole, McLaughlin second in wet Indycar Toronto qualifying
Christian Lundgaard drew on every ounce of his wet-weather experience to shoot to the top of a tense Indycar qualifying session in Toronto ahead of Kiwi Scott McLaughlin.
Christian Lundgaard celebrates pole position and the NTT P1 award in Toronto. (Joe Skibinski / Penske Entertainment)
The Dane set a lap of 1:04.1567 in the #45 Vivid Clear Rx Honda to take pole on Saturday, his second this season after the GMR Grand Prix in May at Indianapolis.
"I have a history, at least in go-karts, of being fast in the rain," said Lundgaard.
"I’ve only driven in the rain only once in this car, which was Indy GP last year, and we weren’t competitive."
"The Hy-Vee Vivid Clear Rx car today was there. I can’t thank this team enough.
"I know this is wet, and it’s tricky, but looking at where we were on street circuits earlier this year and last year, we’ve made huge progress."
The Firestone Fast Six saw every driver swap to slick tyres on the drying tack, struggling for grip but holding on for the pace advantage.
Scott McLaughlin on track in Toronto. (Travis Hinkle / Penske Entertainment)
McLaughlin will start second after qualifying three-tenths down on Lundgaard, spinning early in the session but going faster as conditions cleared.
Australian Will Power will start sixth ahead of Kiwi Scott Dixon in seventh, with countryman Marcus Armstrong eleventh and the highest-starting rookie.
The reigning race winner in Toronto, Dixon narrowly missed out on the Fast Six by just over a tenth of a second.
The Honda Indy Toronto is underway at 3.30am on Monday (AEST).
NTT Indycar Series - Round 10 Toronto Qualifying
- Christian Lundgaard
- Scott McLaughlin (NZ)
- Pato O’Ward
- Marcus Ericsson
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Will Power (AUS)
- Scott Dixon (NZ)
- Kyle Kirkwood
- Romain Grosjean
- Marcus Armstrong (NZ)
- Josef Newgarden
- Rinus VeeKay
- Helio Castroneves
- Colton Herta
- Alex Palou
- Callum Ilott
- David Malukas
- Agustin Canapino
- Jack Harvey
- Tom Blomqvist
- Ryan Hunter-Reay
- Devlin DeFrancesco
- Sting Ray Robb
- Santino Ferrucci
- Benjamin Pedersen
- Alexander Rossi
- Graham Rahal
