Arrow McLaren 2023 Honda Indy Toronto Race Report

#5: Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Exhibition Place Street Circuit

Race date: Sunday, July 16

Round: 10/17

Total laps: 85 Laps

Total race distance: 151.81 miles/244.31 km

Length: 1.79 miles/2.87 km

Number of turns: 11

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Starting Position: 3rd

Finishing Postition: P8

Championship Position: 5th, 274 points

“It was a tough day for us. We just keep making the same mistakes that don’t help our races go forward. We need to look into what the issues have been and fix those because they’re obviously valuable points that we’re just throwing away. But Iowa is coming next, and we’re usually pretty strong there.”

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 

Starting Position: 5th

Finishing Postition: P10

Championship Position: 12th, 183 points

”It was a bit of a tough day for us. We were fighting tire degradation quite a bit. We kind of ended up on a strategy to save a bunch of fuel, and even with the fuel-save we were degging pretty hard. We lacked a bit of straight-line speed, which we’d done all weekend, but it seemed even worse in the race. We have to take a look at that and analyze it. The car didn’t have much pace, and I feel a top 10 was still pretty decent, but I’m not super stoked with the result.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 

Starting Position: 26th

Finishing Postition: P16

Championship Position: 10th, 230 points

”We got a good start, and then there was a track blockage in Turn 1. I kept the engine running, but by the time the safety car got there and got everyone cleared out of the way, we went a lap down. Then we were a lap down the whole day, trying to get our lap back, but it never came. You’re always subject to that kind of thing when you start in the back. From there, it was just a day of attrition, and we couldn’t really do anything. It’s unfortunate, and it feels like a lost weekend, for sure.”

Gavin Ward, Race Director, Arrow McLaren

“Overall a pretty disappointing day. It could have been a lot worse. The fueling issue on Pato’s car that we need to dig into to understand compromised his race. In the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, you need to be bulletproof, but you can’t change the past. All you can do is go from here. We are where we are, and we know we’ve got to be better. That’s what we’re going to focus on.”