Yahoo Autos Herta stays on top in second Toronto practice
Andretti Global and Colton Herta led their second consecutive session at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto street race as the No. 26 Honda delivered a lap of 1m00.5763s towards the end of Saturday morning’s run on the busy street circuit. Teammate Kyle Kirkwood was close behind in second with the No. 27 Honda (1m00.7137s) and Team Penske’s Will Power completed the top 3 in the No. 12 Chevy (1m00.8014s).
“It’s difficult for us to be really quick on street courses, and I think this one suits us, maybe even more than others,” Kirkwood said of Toronto favoring the team’s setup. “I think there’s a lot more pace left in it. So to be second, I’m extremely satisfied with it. Looking forward to qualifying.”
The standout performer during the session was Dale Coyne Racing rookie Hunter McElrea — in his second-ever session — who was 16th with a 1m01.5738s lap in the No. 18 Honda.
The 45-minute session featured 26 of the 27 cars in motion as Alexander Rossi’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevy sat idle in the paddock while awaiting Theo Pourchaire to arrive from France to pilot the car in qualifying, if the timing works out in his favor.
Kirkwood was the first driver to record a quick lap with a 1m02.1151s after seven minutes and had debut driver McElrea take P1 moments later with a 1m01.9570s. Defending race winner Christian Lundgaard went P1 the next lap with a 1m01.8748s.
Ten minutes in, Friday’s fastest driver, Herta, went P1 with a 1m01.7519s lap. After 12 minutes, Power lowered the bar to a 1m00.8014 to go fastest and had Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, and Herta directly behind him.
Halfway through the session Herta retook the lead with a 1m00.7636s. With 16 minutes remaining, Herta’s teammate Kirkwood joined him at the front, going P2 at 1m00.7137s. Marcus Armstrong made contact with the wall with the left-rear corner, bending the suspension in the impact, while running P7, which ended his session.
Felix Rosenqvist was next to make contact, clipping the car of Pietro Fittipaldi, who slowed dramatically just as Rosenqvist was attempting to start a quick lap. Rosenqvist took his car straight to pit lane.
With five minutes left, Fittipaldi made his second appearance in a runoff area but got going without the need for a caution, and moments later O’Ward visited the same Turn 8 runoff, spun the car in the right direction, and left.
Herta improved upon his P1 lap with a 1m00.5763 to hold the lead until the checkered flag.
UP NEXT: Qualifying, 2:45pm ET, on Peacock.
