Colton Herta paced practice, but Alexander Rossi is out of this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto after breaking his right thumb in a crash during Friday’s practice session.
Arrow McLaren issued a statement at 6 p.m. ET that Rossi was seen and released by IndyCar’s Medical Staff. Because of the fracture, the winner of the 100th Indianapolis 500 in 2016 will not be able to compete this weekend.
“First of all, I’m very thankful for all the men and women on the NTT IndyCar Series medical team and for all the great work they do,” Rossi said. “I do have a broken right thumb. It’s unfortunate because the injury occurred when I almost made it around the corner, and I didn’t want to give up on it, so I didn’t quite get my hands off the wheel in time. However, everyone seems optimistic about the kind of injury it is. We’re going to take the next steps here and get ready for Gateway.”
Arrow McLaren will announce who will pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet for the remainder of this weekend once it is confirmed between the driver and team.
“We are just gutted for Alex and the entire 7 crew,” said Arrow McLaren Team Principal Gavin Ward. “We’ll do everything we can to support him, and that is really what matters today. We had an issue on Pato’s (O’Ward) car that was related to the hybrid coolant pump. We don’t know the exact details yet, but we’re looking into it. We will focus on getting the most that we can out of the weekend. We continue to race for Bob Jeffrey, (O’Ward’s spotter who died from cancer on Thursday) and we will do what we do and carry on.”
The 1.786, 11-turn street course winds around Canada’s Exhibition Place, the long-time home of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.
In the second 10-minute group session, Rossi’s No. 7 Chevrolet crashed into the turn 9 tire barrier. The crash brought out the red flag.
Rossi immediately took off high right glove, an indication that he may have bumped it from the impact into the wall. He was also holding his wrist when the AMR Safety Team arrived.
Rossi was trying to save the car until the moment of impact.
“I don’t know about my thumb,” Rossi radioed back to his crew in a pained voice.
Three minutes after the green flag waved to resume practice, rookie Linus Lundqvist crashed into the tire barrier in turn 8 for a second red flag. He was seen and released from the IndyCar Medical unit.
Dale Coyne Racing gave young New Zealander Hunter McElrea of Indy NXT his first shot at the NTT IndyCar Series with the No. 18 Honda this weekend. He is the 44th driver to make his IndyCar debut for Dale Coyne and the fourth this season.
“It’s mega,” McElrea said. “I’ve been working on this deal for a long time and it’s a big weekend to be here. Hopefully, it’s a good experience.”
Earlier this week, Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto was under 2-3 feet of water because of a severe storm that began in the midwestern United States and roared east. After pumping away and draining the water, and much improved weather, the IndyCar drivers had a fairly perfect street course in Canada’s largest city — the fourth largest city in North America behind Mexico City, New York and Los Angeles.
Last year’s Toronto winner, Lundgaard, returned to his performance of 2023 in the first 15 minutes of the session with a lap at 1:03.2859 but his teammate, Graham Rahal, took over first at 1:03.2641 in the No. 15 Honda.
Will Power came back a few minutes later with the fast lap at 1:02.6980 in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet for Team Penske.
Times began to drop dramatically as track conditions improved as Alexander Rossi took over the top spot at 1:02.2747 in the No. 7 Chevrolet. Alex Palou was second in the No. 10 Honda at 1:02.3310 with Felix Rosenqvist’s No. 60 third
Power spun out when he left pit lane trying to get up to speed. He was able to restart the car with the Hybrid Engine system. It provides enough electric power to start the internal combustion engine.
The regular session that had all drivers on track concluded with Colton Herta of Andretti Global the fastest at 1:02.2189 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing was second at 1:02.0804 in the No. 10 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank was third at 1:02.2467 in the No. 60 Honda followed by Scott Dixon’s 1:032.274 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
Rossi of Arrow McLaren rounded out the top five at 1:02.2747 in the No. 7 Chevrolet.
(Full results can be found HERE)
Two, 10-minute practice sessions with cars split into groups followed. Herta topped that session at 1:01.0399 followed by Rosenqvist’s 1:01.3323, Marcus Armstrong’s 1:01.7791 in the No. 11 Honda, Dixon’s 1:01.8717 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda and Rahal’s 1:02.0162 in the No. 15 Honda.
“It was good, overall, the car was really nice,” Herta said. “It feels like the same car we’ve had the last few years, which bodes well for us. It will still be a good comparison for us.
“The hybrid is similar to Mid-Ohio the way we use it and try to get the maximum out.
“No problem so far.”
Hunter McElrea was the fastest driver at the time Lundqvist crashed. McElrea’s time was 1:02.6102 followed by Christian Rasmussen’s 1:03.2213 in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Will Power was third in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
Rossi was eighth as his injured wrist and thumb is being evaluated