PEDAL TO THE METAL TIME
Simon Pagenaud captures the pole for today’s Honda Indy in record style,
Team Penske driver Simon Pagenaud was in a groove, winning the pole for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto with a track-record time on a wild day of qualifying at Exhibition Place.
“Every race-car driver has an ego,” the defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion said after ripping around the 1.786mile Streets of Toronto circuit in 58.9124 seconds, “and I think qualifying is all about ego.
“We all want to be the fastest man. I think from the moment we start in gokarts, when you manage to do that special lap it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Graham Rahal will start second, with Helio Castroneves third. Oakville’s James Hinchcliffe qualified sixth, for the second straight year, on a day of high-speed drama interrupted twice by crashes.
Esteban Gutierrez — the ex-Formula One and Formula E (electric) driver who got the call from Dale Coyne Racing to replace Sebastian Bourdais, recovering from a devastating May crash in Indy 500 qualifying — went heavily into the wall at the top of the main straight on Saturday. He was diagnosed with concussion symptoms and will be re-evaluated Sunday.
Even if he is cleared, his car might not be repaired in time for the race.
J.R. Hildebrand also caught the wall, near corner eight, and damaged his front suspension but is expected to be good to go.
Hinchcliffe benefitted from the Gutierrez crash and made it into the top six. “He was ahead of us and we were on our last lap when the red came out (for the crash). I don’t know where we were on that lap versus who was in sixth at the time, but when the red came out we were technically seventh. We … were thrown a lifeline when the guy who caused the red was ahead of us.”
The past two Indy 500 winners, Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato, will start eighth and 10th, respectively. Marco Andretti qualified 11th, while Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay had a terrible day and will go off 16th.
Most drivers expressed admiration for the Exhibition Place circuit, except for the approach to the first corner by the Princes’ Gates, which is extremely bumpy. In previous years, cars would bounce in this part of the course, but this year they have also been moving sideways.
Hinchcliffe says it’s bordering on dangerous.
“We’re kind of at the edge of what’s driveable,” he said.
“I think the big hope is that we’ll have the opportunity to have that paved for next year. We’re certainly going to recommend it to IndyCar to put some pressure on the promoters to do that. I know it’s solely not up to them — they’re city streets — but we’re very much on the limit of what’s acceptable to be safe.”
Scott Dixon, on the other hand, who qualified fifth — one spot behind defending champion Will Power — saw the bumps as a challenge.
“Turn one is almost a bit of a jump there now, as opposed to being a braking zone, but every year it changes,” said Dixon, last year’s polewinner.
“It’s a street course, and I think that’s the challenging part about it. I think it’s interesting for the drivers. It’s a lot of fun and it’s damn difficult — as it should be. You’ve got to keep it on the track and out of the walls.”
The 33-year-old Pagenaud, who has never won in Toronto but has a pair of top-five finishes, knows qualifying on the pole is just the start.
“Mission accomplished,” he said, “but tomorrow we need to go out there and win the race. That’s the bottom line.
“It’s a different approach. I’ve got to set up my car a little differently for the race, maybe a little less aggressive with the rear end of the car to actually keep my tires underneath me and be stronger the whole stint. “And we don’t know what the (weather) forecast is going to be. That’s the one thing you can’t control, so we’re all going to have to adapt to that.”