Front Row Start for Rahal in Toronto
- Graham Rahal qualifies second for Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto
- Scott Dixon slots in fifth in final qualifying round
- Hometown favorite James Hinchcliffe to start sixth
Graham Rahal's outstanding run in the final minutes of qualifying today netted the Honda driver a front-row staring spot for Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto. Rahal's time of 59.2245 seconds around the bumpy, 1.786-mile Exhibition Place temporary street circuit was second fastest on the day, just three-tenths of a second off the pace set by pole qualifier and defending series champion Simon Pagenaud.
The front-row start is the second of the year for Rahal – his first was a pole at Detroit in June – and a career best for him in Toronto. Both championship points leader Scott Dixon and hometown favorite James Hinchcliffe advanced through the first two rounds of qualifying to also advance to the "Fast Six" final session, with Dixon qualifying fifth and Hinchcliffe, sixth.
Honda's Alexander Rossi, Max Chilton, Takuma Sato and Marco Andretti all advanced out of the first qualifying round, and will start eighth through 11th, respectively. Sunday's 85-lap Honda Indy Toronto starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): "That was awesome! I couldn't be more proud of the Rousseau team. These boys have worked so hard and we put it together in the final round [of qualifying]. We can definitely race them hard from here. I think we have a pretty good race car, it's going to be a great race tomorrow. Trust me, we're going to give them everything we've got. We want to get a win. When you have a car like this, and a team like this, it makes it a lot more confidence inspiring. When you go out there you know that you have what it takes to get the job done. They have made my life a lot easier. A result like this is great for all of our partners."
Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto Circuit: Exhibition Place (1.786-mile temporary street circuit), Toronto, Ont., Canada 2016 Winner: Will Power (Team Penske) 88.739 mph average Weather: Mostly sunny, warn, 77 degrees F
Top-12 Qualifying Results:
| Ps. |
Driver |
Team |
Manufacturer |
Best Time |
Notes |
|
1. |
Simon Pagenaud |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
58.9124 |
First pole of 2017 |
|
2. |
Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
59.2245 |
+0.3121 seconds |
|
3. |
Helio Castroneves |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
59.4345 |
Fast Six final Qualifying |
|
4. |
Will Power |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
59.5430 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
5. |
Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
59.7970 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
6. |
James Hinchcliffe |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
60.1415 |
Fast Six Final Qualifying |
|
7. |
Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
59.5892 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
|
8. |
Alexander Rossi |
Andretti Herta Autosport |
Honda |
60.0114 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
|
9. |
Max Chilton |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
60.1202 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
|
10. |
Takuma Sato |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
60.1970 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
|
11. |
Marco Andretti |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
60.3384 |
2nd Round Qualifying |
|
12. |
JR Hildebrand |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
Chevrolet |
62.3040 |
Crash, red flag penalty |
Other Honda Results
| 14. |
Tony Kanaan |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
60.0607 |
1st Round, Group 2 |
|
15. |
Ed Jones-R |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
59.8686 |
1st Round, Group 1 |
|
16. |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
60.0926 |
1st Round, Group 2 |
|
17. |
Charlie Kimball |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
59.9820 |
1st Round, Group 1 |
|
20. |
Sebastian Saavedra |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
60.6272 |
1st Round, Group 1 |
|
21. |
Esteban Gutierriez-R |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
60.7441 |
Crash, red flag penalty |
