Christian Lundgaard has taken his maiden IndyCar victory at this morning’s Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Toronto, while Scott Dixon finished as the best of the Kiwi runners in fourth.
Scott McLaughlin would finish fifth, and Marcus Armstrong seventh as Tom Blomqvist’s IndyCar debut lastest just one corner as he became a victim of a chaotic opening lap.
Championship leader Alex Palou continues to extend his lead over the field by charging from 15th on the grid to finish second, while Colton Herta rounded out the podium places.
Lundgaard would lead McLaughlin off the line once the lights went green, while Dixon quickly moved from seventh to fifth as a caution was quickly called for following a multi-car collision at the rear of the field.
A three-wide battle into Turn 1 was ultimately the cause of the incident, with Blomqvist an unfortunate casualty as he was squeezed into the wall on the outside, with the trailing cars collecting the rear of those who crashed ahead.
Other drivers forced to retire included Jack Harvey, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Benjamin Pedersen, while Alexander Rossi lost a lap on the leaders after being caught up.
The race would resume again on Lap 10, with Lundgaard leading McLaughlin and pulling away over the laps that followed.
Palou had made instant moves forward but clipped Romain Grosjean to fall behind Herta, who had started 14th and was also moving forward.
The duo would continue their march forward as pit strategy came into play, with Lundgaard holding a 6-second lead over McLaughlin until a Lap 42 caution was triggered by a Romain Grosjean crash at Turn 10.
McLaughlin would pressure for the lead off the restart, only for Helio Castroneves to spin following contact from Kyle Kirkwood. Palou would be involved in further contact, clipping Castroneves and the wall as the race went yellow again.
McLaughlin would lead Dixon off the Lap 52 restart, pulling a second clear before making his final stop on Lap 62, while Lungaard worked past Palou, who had a broken nose section, following their final round of stops.
Once he retook the lead, Lundgaard would check out, cruising to an 11-second victory over Palou, with Herta a further three seconds back with Dixon on his tail.
Will Power had sat fourth but was required to box on the final lap for fuel which saw him drop to 14th, while Pato O’Ward, who had been running fifth, lost places over the final laps to come home eighth.
Josef Newgarden would finish fifth, with McLaughlin heading home Armstrong, who rounded out the top seven.
“It was a long day in the office,” Armstrong said following the race. “It was a tough track to do 85 laps but it was a lot of fun. I think the team did a great job with strategy, choosing when to box and how far we can go on fuel and with the tires.
“I thought today was a race of attrition, and I’ve always made the best of it.”
IndyCar returns to Iowa Speedway for an oval race double-header next weekend.
Header Image source: Scott Dixon (Facebook)
