Lundgaard, Harvey and Rahal: Honda Indy Toronto Qualifying

Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda Indy Toronto – Streets around Exhibition Place
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – Saturday, July 16, 2022

LUNDGAARD, HARVEY AND RAHAL TO START 10TH, 13TH AND 14TH IN THE HONDA INDY TORONTO

1)         Colton Herta                      59.2698 / 108.480 mph          (Group 2, Round 3)
10)       Christian Lundgaard        59.9151 / 107.312 mph          (Group 2, Round 2)
13)       Jack Harvey                      1:00.0212 / 107.122 mph       (Group 1, Round 1)
14)       Graham Rahal                   1:00.6805 / 105.958 mph       (Group 2, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We’ve had a solid weekend; I’ve been very proud of the guys. This qualifying session was not indicative of our pace. We had plenty. Even when Kirkwood spun, I was up on my form from earlier today so it was plenty good. The guy spins, you can’t complete your lap. Unfortunately, where we were in pit lane really hosed us today. Because both of those sequences, the guys that were at the front (of pit lane) were able to complete their laps. It is what it is but its mightily frustrating. On the one lap that we did get, I went into Turn 6, and the car bottomed on the entry which I’ve not had all weekend and it cost me about two-tenths and that was it. I’m super disappointed. Even on the red (tire) lap, we didn’t even get tire temp in and it was plenty to advance. Kirkwood spins and it’s over. On a weekend like this, all I could hope for was a little help from Lady Luck too in qualifying and it becomes amateur hour once qualifying comes. And the officiating on the 29 car was frustrating. To start 13th and 14th for Jack and I is not acceptable given the pace we’ve had this weekend so I’m pretty disappointed. I do think we had a car to win, I think we had a car to qualifying up front. I could feel it, even on that red (tire) lap. I didn’t even get tire temp in and I was shocked at how competitive it was for the first flyer. Maybe today wasn’t our lucky day but maybe tomorrow is.”

  • FAST FACTS: Will be his 15th Indy car race here and 16th overall including his 2006 Atlantic race… In 14 Indy car races, his best Toronto start is second in 2017 and his best finish is fifth in 2010 with Newman/Haas Racing. He has three, top-five starts and five, top-10 finishes… Has SIX IndyCar Series wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and THREE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… Rahal is 15th in series point standings with a total of 177.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 30 HUB International Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a tough qualifying session. I think we could have been there. I think we were super lucky to get through in Q1. I think the red flag should have caused interference in the session because they were red flagging it and they didn’t get their lap time taken away. We didn’t have what it took to get through to the Fast 6. We were close, but tomorrow is pay day. We are racing hard tomorrow.”

  • FAST FACTS: He has competed in 10 INDYCAR SERIES races with a best start of 4th place (IMS road course 2021) and best finish of 9th (IMS road course, 2022)… He is 17th place in series standings and is the highest ranked rookie with 159.

JACK HARVEY, 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We were super close to the transfer to Round 2. We just missed the balance a little bit. I think the track evolution maybe have caught us out just a tiny bit. In the whole, it was not a bad qualifying for the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda. It’s certainly still not where we want to be, but I think this has been a much more productive weekend for us to be able to work through some of our issues. We will try to keep the momentum going. We have two sets of reds for the race. I’m not sure how that will help us right now but hopefully we are able to use them and try to have a good race day.”

  • FAST FACTS: Is making his first INDYCAR SERIES start in Toronto. He competed here in 2014 in Indy Lights where he started fourth and finished third. And also competed in the doubleheader here in 2015 where he started fourth in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2 and finished second in both. He is 20th in series standings with 115 points.  

RLL AT TORONTO: The Honda Indy Toronto will mark the 21st year of Indy car racing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) here. The team also competed in the Atlantic Series races here in 2003 and 2004.  The team earned a total of four second place finishes (Rahal 1992, 1994, 1995; Michel Jourdain Jr. 2003) and best start was pole in 1992 by Bobby Rahal. The team has earned FIVE podiums (3rd – Rahal 1996), 9 top-five’s and 20 top-10 finishes at the track.  The No. 15 United Rentals entry for Graham Rahal, the No. 30 HUB International entry for Christian Lundgaard and the No. 45 Hy-Vee entry for Jack Harvey will bring the Indy car total to 38 entries in 2022.

NEXT UP: Warm-up will take place tomorrow from 10:55-11:25 a.m. ET. Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com and includes commentary by the INDYCAR Radio Network. The 85-lap Honda Indy Toronto will be streamed live on Peacock beginning at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 17