Toronto Indy: Colton Herta takes pole position in IndyCar; Gavin Sanders victory in SportsCar Canada

Under the sun, the second day of the Toronto Indy allowed an already large crowd to attend the last free practice session and qualifying for IndyCar, in addition to the last qualifying and first support races.

In IndyCar, the qualifying session resulted in several red flags which trapped some favorites. Qualifying for the final round of the top 6, Colton Herta, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, David Malukas and Scott McLauglin finished the session in that order, separated by just 68 thousandths of a second.

Herta (Dallara-Honda/Andretti Autosport), who arrived in Toronto from Portugal where he drove a 2021 McLaren F1 earlier this week, apparently setting very promising lap times, thus collected his second pole position of the season , 89 thousandths of a second ahead of Dixon.

Unable to complete more than one lap in the last free practice this morning, Newgarden (Dallara-Chevrolet / Team Penske) will also be one to watch in the race, he who has already won twice in Toronto.

The Top 10 of the qualification is completed by Calum Ilott, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Christian Lundgaard. With such an amazing Top 10, with for three of them (Malukas, Ilott and Lundgaard) their best ever qualification in the series, there is no doubt that the race could be lively tomorrow! Romain Grosjean will start in 11th place, ahead of the first Canadian, Devlin DeFrancesco. Will Power is only 16th, Simon Pagenaud 18th and Alex Palou, whose car has been struggling since the start of the weekend, is 22nd, one position behind Jimmie Johnson and one ahead of the second Canadian registered, Dalton Kellett. For the complete ranking of this qualification, click here.

The first races of the Road To Indy series also took place this Saturday. In USF2000, the Pabst Racing team (which includes former Canadian F1600 champion Martin Guimont among the technical staff) achieved another double, with Myles Rowe winning ahead of Jace Denmark. Rookie Jagger Jones (Cape Motorsports) completed the podium.

The race, devoid of the slightest incident but shortened by the officials to just 24 minutes, was however difficult for the drivers of DeForce Racing, the reigning champion team in which Quebecer Thomas Nepveu evolves. He finished 11th, between his two teammates, Dylan Christie (10th) and Bijoy Garg (12th). For the full ranking, click here.

The next race was the 2000 Indy Pro Series, with 14 drivers at the start. Dominating at the start of the season, British rookie Louis Foster (Exclusive Autosport) added another win to his record, ahead of his compatriot Enaam Ahmed. Josh Green finished 3rd. See the full ranking by clicking here.

The Porsche Carrera Cup North America also presented its first race, with only 15 drivers at the start, two withdrawals being to be deplored following free practice yesterday and then qualifying this morning. Starting from pole position, Trenton Estep won 3 seconds ahead of Kay van Berlo. Riley Dickinson is 3rd. The full ranking is here.

The first of two rounds of the SportsCar Canada Series (SCCC) completed the day of activities on the temporary street circuit at Exhibition Place. This was an exciting one, with three GT4 drivers battling for victory throughout the 40 minute race. Qualified on pole, Gavin Sanders (Mercedes AMG GT4) saw Zachary Vanier (McLaren 570s GT4) overtake him at the start while Quebecer Charles Robin (Mercedes AMG GT4) was ready to take advantage of the slightest error from the two favorites. In the end, Sanders managed to take the lead from Vanier on the penultimate lap to clinch his first win of the season. Robin finished 3rd, in addition to having set the fastest lap. In the TCR class, Audi RS3 tripled with victory for Richard Boeke ahead of Jérimy Daniel and Jean-François Hevey. For the full ranking, see here.