2023 Honda Indy Toronto

Race Notes

• The 2023 Honda Indy Toronto was 85 laps on the 11-turn, 1.786-mile Streets of Toronto temporary street circuit totaling 151.81 miles. The race would have become a two-hour timed event if there were wet conditions, however the race stayed dry.
• The pit road speed limit was 40 mph and the pit window was approximately 25–32 laps under green-flag conditions.
• Pole sitter Christian Lundgaard gridded drivers' right and the green flag to start the race was shown the fourth time past the start-finish line.
• All cars but those of Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Ericsson, Will Power, Scott Dixon, Romain Grosjean, Rinus VeeKay, Helio Castroneves, Colton Herta, Alex Palou, Callum Ilott, Agustin Canapino, Jack Harvey, Devlin DeFrancesco, Santino Ferrucci and Graham Rahal started the race on green guayule alternate Firestone tires. All cars were required to use one set of alternate green guayule tires and one set of primary black tires for at least two green-flag laps in the race, unless rain tires were used due to weather.
• Fifteen minutes before the scheduled green-flag time, the ambient temperature at Exhibition Place in Toronto was 76 degrees with 79% relative humidity and party cloudy skies. The track temperature was 107 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• At 1:53 p.m. EDT, several Ontario Honda Dealers gave the command, "Drivers, start your engines." All 27 cars started and were rolling on the grid.
• Lundgaard led the field to the green flag and into Turn 1. Behind, there was a multi-car incident in Turn 2 initiated by Harvey, who was later penalized for avoidable contact. Drivers involved were: Ryan Hunter-Reay, DeFrancesco, Harvey, Tom Blomqvist, Sting Ray Robb, Ferrucci, Benjamin Pedersen and Alexander Rossi. The cars of Harvey, Blomqvist, Hunter-Reay and Pedersen retired from the race due to the incident. The caution period was eight laps in duration.
• Lundgaard led the field on the restart and remained out front until Lap 19, when he pitted for primary tires. McLaughlin assumed the lead and was able to stretch his opening stint on primary tires to 35 laps.
• On Lap 40, with the green-flag pit stop cycle complete, Lundgaard was back in the lead with a 6.3-second advantage over McLaughlin.
• The race's second caution period began on Lap 41 when the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda of Romain Grosjean made contact with the barrier in Turn 10. The crash took Grosjean out of the race. He was later seen and released from the infield care center.
• The Lap 45 restart once again saw Lundgaard out front, but the race's third and final full-course caution period began almost immediately when the No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Castroneves spun in Turn 11 after contact from behind by the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda of Kyle Kirkwood. Grosjean retired from the race and was later seen and released from the infield care center. Kirkwood was penalized for avoidable contact and served a stop-and-go penalty.
• Lundgaard as well as O'Ward, Ericsson and Power elected to pit under caution on Lap 48 while McLaughlin and Dixon stayed out, inheriting the first and second positions.
• McLaughlin led the field on the Lap 51 restart and remained ahead of Dixon until Lap 61 when McLaughlin made his final pit stop. Dixon pitted one lap later.
• Following the pit stops for McLaughlin and Dixon, Lundgaard reclaimed the race lead and held it through to the checkered flag. He took the white flag with a 10.8569-second lead over Palou and crossed the finish line with a 11.7893-second margin of victory.
• The result marked Lundgaard's first NTT IndyCar Series victory. It is Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's first victory since Takuma Sato won the 2020 Indianapolis 500, almost three years ago. Despite winning as a driver at the track, it marked Bobby Rahal's first win at Toronto as a team owner.
• Unofficial points after the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto:
  1. Palou 417
  2. Dixon 300
  3. Newgarden 291
  4. Ericsson 275
  5. O'Ward 274
  6. McLaughlin 258
  7. Lundgaard 248
  8. Power 242
  9. Herta 239
  10. Rossi 230
      

Session Notes

• Morning warm-up for the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto was 30 minutes in duration and started on time at 10:15 a.m. EDT.
• The session ran without incident.
• Scott Dixon ended warm-up with the fastest lap, a 1:01.3208 in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
  

Qualifying Notes

• Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award consists of three segments. In the first round, each group receives 10 minutes of track time with the clock starting when the first car hits the alternate start-finish line. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 to 27. Group 1 drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions while Group 2 drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions based on their fastest lap times. During Round 2, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time with the fastest six cars advancing to the Firestone Fast Six while the remaining cars are ranked in positions seven through 12 based on their fastest laps. During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive six minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. At the end of session, cars are ranked one through six based on their fastest laps.
• Five minutes before the start of qualifying, the ambient temperature at Exhibition Place in Toronto was 75 degrees with overcast skies. Light drizzle was reported on pit lane. The track temperature was 90 degrees according to Firestone Racing engineers.
• Round 1 began on time with Group 1 proceeding without incident, although a penalty was levied against the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of David Malukas who was judged to have committed qualifying interference. Malukas was stripped of his two fastest laps and was unable to advance.
• With rain intensifying, the start of Group 2 was put on hold to evaluate course conditions.
• Group 2 was able to move forward on a wet track with rain tires permitted. Multiple penalties were issued for drivers that caused local yellows that impeded other drivers:
  • Romain Grosjean (twice)
  • Colton Herta
  • Agustin Canapino
  • Graham Rahal
• Each was penalized their fastest lap up to the time of the penalty with the ability to advance.
• Round 2 ran without incident. Pato O'Ward, Christian Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Ericsson and Will Power advanced to the Firestone Fast Six.
• After a review of the results due to a spin for Scott McLaughlin that impeded the progress of Marcus Ericsson, Firestone Fast Six results were made official with Christian Lundgaard securing the NTT P1 Award for the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto.
• The effort marked Lundgaard's second career NTT IndyCar Series pole. He was previously on pole in Indianapolis for the 2023 GMR Grand Prix.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 2 for the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto began on time at 10:35 a.m. EDT at the Streets of Toronto temporary circuit.
• The session consisted of 45 minutes of green-flag track time within a one-hour window.
• At the start of practice, the ambient temperature was 73 degrees with overcast skies. Light drizzle was reported on pit lane. The track temperature was 85 degrees according to Firestone Racing engineers.
• One red flag slowed the session when the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist made contact with the barrier in Turn 5. The red flag was six minutes in duration. Rosenqvist was later seen and released from the infield care center.
• Green-flag running resumed with seven minutes remaining on the session clock.
• At the conclusion of practice, the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda of Colton Herta was fastest with a lap time of 1:00.5657.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 1 for the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto began on time at 3 p.m. EDT at the Streets of Toronto temporary circuit.
• The 75-minute session was free of red flags.
• The No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda of Kyle Kirkwood was fastest with a lap time of 1:00.8075.