Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson in the No.8 Huski Iced Spritz Honda starts Sunday’s Honda Indy on the streets of Toronto from fourth place following a rain-affected qualifying for the 85-lap race, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES only trip outside of the United States of America. SPeaking after setting his time, the Swede said:
“It was a hectic session with difficult conditions. The Huski Ice Spritz Honda was really good out there in all changeable conditions. In the end, a bit disappointed to miss out on pole. I thought we were looking pretty good there for a while, but we got some traffic in the Fast 6 which held us up a bit. P4 is a good result and we can definitely go and fight for a victory from there tomorrow.”
Four-time Toronto winner Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC BANK Honda starts the race from seventh place on the grid with a time of 01:12.3123s and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“I think we should have done what a couple of others out there did, and come in for a new set of wets, but they can’t really take the abuse out there, especially in dry conditions. Then, the fronts just get completely saturated and overdone. We had a lot of traffic for the first five or six laps and it was very slow. It’s a shame because the car is super fast, but we’ll start from seventh. We’ll truck on and hopefully have a good race tomorrow.”
Marcus Armstrong in the No.11 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda starts his first Honda Indy Toronto from tenth place having made it into the Firestone Fast 12 with a time of 01:13.5600s and starts the race just ahead of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden in the No.2 Snap-On Chevrolet and speaking following the action the New Zealand native commented saying:
“There was the potential for more. We were fast up until the last two or three laps on new wets. We sort of destroyed the tires and it’s a shame because the track started to improve there at the end. P10 is not bad and we can certainly race from there.”
It was a disappointing qualifying for championship leader Alex Palou in the No.10 Journie Rewards Honda as he starts the race from 15th place on the grid, his worst qualifying performance of the season and speaking following the action, the Spaniard who has a 110-point lead over his teammate Scott Dixon going into the race on Sunday he said:
“We got a lap in when it was dry, but we couldn’t really get all of it. We had a bit more speed from the No. 10 car, so it’s a shame, but we’ll have to work hard tomorrow. You never know what can happen on a street course, especially here in Toronto. I’m sure it’s going to be a busy day tomorrow for the guys in the stand calling the strategy and for me trying to make up spots. But, I’m sure there are going to be plenty of opportunities.”