Scott McLaughlin qualified as the fastest of the four Kiwis competing in this weekend’s IndyCar outing on the Streets of Toronto and will start from fourth.
Andretti Global claimed a front-row sweep, with a late flyer from Colton Herta snatching the pole from teammate Kyle Kirkwood.
All four New Zealanders qualified in Group 1, which was topped by Kirkwood’s 1:00.1698. McLaughlin, Christian Rasmussen, Felix Rosenqvist, David Malukas and Josef Newgarden were the other drivers to progress.
Marcus Armstrong failed to progress to the top 12 and finished seventh in the group, just 0.0256s behind Newgarden. Dixon was a further place behind and will start on the eighth row.
Hunter McElrea, who is making his IndyCar debut for Dale Coyne Racing, impressed in the morning’s practice, where he was 16th quickest. However, A crash at Turn 8 in Group Stage qualifying cost the 2023 Indy NXT runner-up. He was able to continue once his car was removed but was unable to advance for causing a red flag.
Power’s 1:00.0650 was the best time in Group 2, ahead of Marcus Ericsson, Herta, Graham Rahal, Romain Grosjean, and Agustin Canapino.
Series leader and reigning champion Alex Palou was demoted from the top six for impeding Pato O’Ward during the session, which cost him his two fastest laps. As a result, Palou was relegated to ninth in the group, which elevated Canapino to the final spot in the top 12. O’Ward narrowly missed out on the top 12 in seventh.
Rosenqvist set a 59.5960-second flyer to top the second qualifying round, heading Kirkwood by 0.0709s. Grosjean, Herta, McLaughlin and Malukas, the latter of whom progressed despite spinning mid-session and losing his best lap for causing a localised yellow.
Malukas did improve with a later effort, which secured his passage to the Fast Six at the expense of Newgarden, who will start the race seventh after missing the pole shootout by just 0.0190 seconds.
Power will start Monday’s race in ninth, surviving a wild moment at Turn 8 that almost sent him into the barriers.
Grosjean was on the backfoot early in the Fast Six, overshooting Turn 8 but keeping the Juncos Hollinger Racing entry out of the wall and returning to action.
Kirkwood’s late 59.6735s looked to have secured the pole, but Herta responded with a 59.5431s at the chequered flag for the position.
McLaughlin’s best effort, a 59.9082, also came late in the session but only placed him fourth, eight hundredths behind Rosenqvist, whom he will start alongside in the race.
Grosjean was fifth, and Malukas sixth.
Coverage from Toronto begins at 5.00 am NZST on Monday and will be shown live on Sky Sport.
Header Image: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski
