TORONTO – Colton Herta became the first NTT IndyCar Series driver this season to win more than one pole, as the Andretti Autosport driver was good to the last lap.
Herta won the pole on the streets of Toronto with a wicked final lap in the Firestone Fast Six of 59.2698 around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street course at Exhibition Place for a top speed of 108.480 miles per hour.
Herta (26) leads Felix Rosenqvist during qualifying. (Al Steinberg Photo)
Herta was able to attach his second NTT P1 award on the rear wing of his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Autosport for the second time in 2022.
He will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. The race can be seen on Peacock beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
“That was an intense session,” Herta said. “We had not found that time until the very end. You don’t really see that where the drivers go faster on the used Reds than the new Reds. That might give us something to think about for Sunday.
“It’s always nice when you get to drive a race car like that and get there. We put it all together. It was awesome. I’m ready for tomorrow.”
Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was second at 59.3592 (108.317 mph) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
“The first lap I messed up and tried to jump some traffic, then I over attacked turn 6,” Dixon said. “All in all, a great weekend for Chip Ganassi Racing. We can win from here, that’s the main thing.
“This course is pretty technical, and the best grip is against the wall so the higher you get, the faster you go. We’ll keep our head down and see if we can’t get that No. 9 PNC Bank car on the podium.”
Josef Newgarden, who was unable to participate in Saturday morning’s practice session because of an engine issue, was able to rally and qualify third. He had a fast lap of 59.5257 for a top speed of 108.014 mph in the No. 2 Chevrolet for Team Penske.
“It was a good recovery by our crew to put a new engine in the car after the practice session,” Newgarden said. “I felt really good about it. The guys did an amazing job. We have something to fight with on Sunday.
“I’m just disappointed we didn’t get it all done.”
Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport was fourth at 59.5544 (107.962 mph) in the No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Honda for Andretti Autosport followed by Dale Coyne rookie David Malukas’ lap at 59.6140 (107.854 mph) in the No. 18 Honda.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin rounded out the Firestone “Fast Six” at 59.9558 (107.239 mph) in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
FIRST SEGMENT
GROUP ONE
After each team took its “banker” laps (running a lap to have an official time in case a red flag ends the session early), drivers began to go for speed with two minutes left in the session.
Rossi went below the 60-second mark with a lap at 59.8731 with 1:12 left in the first group of the first segment. He went quicker on the next lap, 59.7724 and pulled into pit lane with 40 seconds left.
Dixon lowered the mark with a lap at 59.6996. Callum Ilott moved into third at 59.8315 with 10 seconds left. But after the checkered flag waved, Ericsson was on top at 59.6875.
When the session was complete, the drivers that advanced into the next round were Ericsson (59.6875), Dixon (59.6996), Rossi, Ilott (59.8315), David Malukas (59.8686) and Scott McLaughlin (59.9217).
Drivers who did not advance included Jack Harvey (1:00.0212), Pato O’Ward (1:00.1193), Helio Castroneves (1:00.2712), Takuma Sato (1:00.5324), Jimmie Johnson (1:00.9817) and Dalton Kellett. All drivers took laps except Kellett, who had an engine issue and was never able to get on track.
“I haven’t had the speed all weekend,” O’Ward said. “I don’t have another answer for you. We’ve been slow. We haven’t gotten any better. If I go faster, we are bouncing off the walls.”
GROUP TWO
Conor Daly lost his two best laps early in the session when he impeded Colton Herta’s fast lap. Canada’s Devlin DeFranceso stuffed his Honda into the tire barrier just after recording the best speed up to that point at 1:00.1543. Simultaneously, Alex Palou’s engine died to bring out the red flag with 4:48 left in the session.
“The engine is dead,” Palou radioed to his crew.
Palou’s tumultuous week, which includes a bitter contract controversy between Chip Ganassi Racing and McLaren, continued. Earlier in the day, Palou crashed in Saturday’s practice session.
The session resumed with all cars that left pit lane within 30 seconds of the green were allowed to get one timed lap.
Cars stacked up on each other, as drivers tried to open gaps, for a fast lap.
Kyle Kirkwood spun out in Turn 8 and backed into the tire barriers, to end the session with a red flag.
That ended Team Penske Will Power’s attempt at getting a fast lap, leaving him ninth at 1:00.7974.
“Oh My God!” Power radioed to his crew.
When Power returned to the pits, he got out of the car and screamed.
“Crazy, but I had a really fast car again,” Power said. “Crazy, that’s three races in a row we were top three in practice then 16th in qualifying. I had the car and was four-tenths up on a lap. When you are behind everyone, and someone creates a red you are behind.
“It keeps adding up. I have to do it again, unfortunately. This is a track known for mayhem, so who knows?”
Drivers advancing out of this group included Colton Herta (1:00.0681), DeFrancesco (1:00.1543), Josef Newgarden (1:00.1584), Romain Grosjean (1:00.2755), Felix Rosenqvist (1:00.3655) and Christian Lundgaard (1:00.3655).
Drivers who missed advancing included Graham Rahal (1:00.6805), Rinus VeeKay (1:00.7372), Power (1:00.7974), Simon Pagenaud (1:00.7974), Kirkwood (1:01.5112), Palou (1:00.911), and Daly (1:14.3039).
“We’ve had a solid weekend, but this qualifying session is not indicative of what we have,” Rahal said. “We have plenty. Where we are in pit lane really hosed us today because the guys in front of us were able to complete their laps.
“I’m super disappointed. We didn’t get tire temp in and we had plenty to advance. Kirkwood spins and that’s it. It becomes amateur hour on race officiating. It’s really frustrating.
“I’m pretty upset.”
SECOND SEGMENT
This segment did not have any major incidents with the exception of DeFrancesco driving into the runoff. Rossi was the fastest at 59.3709, 108.295 mph). He was followed by Newgarden’s 59.4614, 108.131 mph), Malukas (59.4638, 108.126 mph), Dixon (59.5348, 107.504 mph), Herta (59.5391, 107.997 mph) and McLaughlin (59.5876, 107.902 mph) to form the “Fast Six.”
Drivers who did not advance were Ilott (59.632, 107.816 mph), Rosenqvist (59.6330, 107.765 mph), Ericsson (59.8527, 107.424 mph), Lundgaard (59.9151, 107.312 mph), Grosjean (1:00.0819, 107.014 mph) and DeFrancesco (1:14.882, 85.856 mph).
Keyword: Herta Shoots To Toronto Pole, Scores Second Of Season