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Louis Foster surged late in qualifying to claim pole for the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham.
Driving the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, the 23-year-old Briton produced a 1m13.2383s lap to take pole by 0.3969 seconds around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street circuit. It marks just the second pole of his career, and first since his last season at Road America.
“Well, it's our second time on pole on old alts (used alternate tires) beating new alts, so I'm happy about that,” said Foster, the 2024 Indy NXT champion. “But no, we had such a messy session beforehand like the first stage and second stage of qualifying, I knew if we just pieced it all together we’d be there. When I was doing that lap, I was like, ‘These feel great. These tires feel great. The car was awesome. The Rahal cars have been so fast all weekend. So yeah, super happy to get kind of another gremlin off our back. We got pole last year, but we've got nowhere close this year.”
Christian Lundgaard ended up a distant second, finishing 0.3969s behind in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was third, followed by Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson in fourth. Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger ended up fifth, with Rinus VeeKay continuing his momentum with another Fast Six effort and settling for sixth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.
Fast Six
Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing
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Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing
The competitive times started to hit with three minutes left in the round, with Hauger the first to hit a quick lap at 1m14.861s before Ericsson dethroned him with a 1m14.151s flyer.
However, Foster threw down the fastest lap of the weekend at 1m13.373s moments later and went even quicker at 1m13.238s. Lundgaard attempted to press a quick lap and went second with a 1m13.920s lap.
It became a battle for second between Lundgaard and McLaughlin, with the two trading the spot before the former hit a 1m13.635s lap with McLaughlin eventually setting a 1m13.680s lap.
Ericsson could only grab a 1m13.838s lap, with Hauger improving on his earlier time at 1m13.940s. VeeKay could not break the 1m14s line, but got close at 1m14.060s.
In the end, Foster’s lap remained comfortably out of reach, securing his second career pole and first on a street circuit.
Round of 12
With roughly three minutes remaining, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou set the fastest lap in the round at 1m13.8s but slapped the wall seconds later. The impact left his No. 10 Honda wounded with damage to the right-front and left-rear before spinning into the runoff area in Turn 10. The red flag came out and he lost his two fastest laps, which relegated him down the pecking order and elevated VeeKay with his 1m14.2024s lap as the one to beat.
The round resumed and saw a furious run to the finish, with Ericsson vaulting to the top at the very end with a 1m14.019s quick lap. McLaughlin ended up second at 0.1702s behind. Hauger, VeeKay, Lundgaard, and Foster advanced into the pole round.
Team Penske’s David Malukas was the first driver to miss out on transferring, falling 0.0770s short in seventh. ECR’s Alexander Rossi ended up eighth, with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon ninth. The 10th and 11th spots were occupied by a pair of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates, with Graham Rahal ahead of rookie Mick Schumacher. Palou was left 12th.
Groups
Will Power, Andretti Global
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Will Power, Andretti Global
In the first group, Palou pulled out a late quick lap to seize control, but it wasn’t without some drama.
The red flag came out with just over two minutes remaining with AJ Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collet, who barely made qualifying after repairs from his crash at the end of second practice, slowed in Turns 5 and 6.
After the brief stoppage, time allowed a one-lap attempt to break into the transfer spots. At the end, Palou went from the outside looking in to the top spot with a 1m14.099s flyer. McLaughlin ended up 0.0608s behind Palou, with Hauger, who led prior to the red flag, sliding to third and 0.0962s back. Ericsson, Rahal, and Dixon also advanced.
David Malukas, Team Penske
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David Malukas, Team Penske
The first driver eliminated was Kyffin Simpson, who was beaten to the final transfer spot by CGR team-mate Dixon by just 0.0434s. ECR’s Christian Rasmussen was eighth, with Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb ninth. Nolan Siegel was left in 10th with his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, ahead of AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci in 11th. Collet was left in 12th, last of the group.
The second group was also hit with a red flag after Andretti Global’s Will Power spun in Turn 4 and ended up in the runoff area. The incident happened with just under a minute remaining, with one timed lap allowed when the session restarted.
Malukas, who stormed to the top spot prior to the red flag with a 1m13.475s lap, held it through the end with the quick time.
During his final run, Newgarden clipped the Turn 10 tire barriers with the right-front of his No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, collapsing the suspension. He rolled into pit lane immediately but the second red flag came out and ended the session.
Through the drama, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was in the transfer spot, but was hit with a penalty for impeding Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean after rejoining the track following an adventure into the runoff area.
In the end, the group to transfer behind Malukas was Foster, Rossi, Schumacher, Lundgaard, and VeeKay.
The drivers who missed the cut were Grosjean, Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist and teammate Marcus Armstrong, O’Ward, Power, and Newgarden.
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