INDYCAR QUALIFYING REPORT: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham

Will Power

No. 26 TWG AI Honda

• Will Power came out strong in Practice 1, leading the Andretti trio with a top-five finish. Unfortunately, the Aussie was not so lucky in Practice 2 after an issue in Turn 9 put the No. 26 TWG AI Honda into the Turn 10 tire barrier, ending Power’s second practice early.
• The TWG AI crew was able to quickly get the No. 26 back together in the tight turnaround window between Practice 2 and Qualifying.
• Heading out in Group 2 of the first round of qualifying, alongside teammate Kyle Kirkwood, Will Power struggled to find a gap with slow traffic ahead. Pushing hard to put a lap together as the closing minutes of the session were upon him, Power spun in Turn 4 causing a red flag and losing his two fastest laps. 
• The No. 26 TWG AI Honda will take tomorrow’s start from 24th tomorrow. 

“We were just really free, and once these rears go, you’re never going to catch it. If we would’ve caught it and we had a chance to have a quick lap, we might’ve gotten it. Me crashing this morning didn’t help, because you really don’t know where the car is at, and then getting behind Felix just made it worse because he takes so long to get his tires up to temp. It’s just unfortunate.”

Kyle Kirkwood

No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda

• After finishing just outside the top 10 in Practice 1, Kyle Kirkwood jumped up to fourth in Practice 2, running his fastest time on the final lap of his run.
• Like his teammate, Kirkwood also found himself working around traffic as he searched for a clean lap in Group 2 of the first round of qualifying. Following the red flag triggered by Power’s spin late in the session, he returned to the track for one final attempt at a chance to advance to the second round.
• The No. 27 Honda’s last-lap effort unfortunately wasn’t enough to advance, leaving Kirkwood with a 16th-place starting position for tomorrow’s race.

“We got the short end of the stick on qualifying today for sure. I wasn’t really able to do a lap until I went out after the red flag. The Sam’s Club Honda was good, I was happy with it. It’s just an unfortunate situation with the traffic, the spin and the red. It was just a messy situation across the board, but we know the car is quick so we’ll just have to work our way forward.”

No. 28 RVI Group Honda

• Marcus Ericsson debuted his No. 28 RVI Group Honda on the Streets of Markham today, finishing seventh in Practice 1 before jumping to second in Practice 2, just shy of the top spot on the speed charts.
• In the first-ever qualifying session at Markham, Ericsson easily made it through the first two rounds of qualifying, topping the second round and easily making it into the Firestone Fast Six.
• Ericsson’s run in the Firestone Fast Six was strong, but was ultimately only fast enough for fourth on tomorrow’s starting grid.

“That was a very eventful qualifying session here in Markham. It was a lot of red flags, and a red flag when we were about to put a lap on the board. It was a lot of stressful situations where we had to survive to get a lap, but the RVI Group Honda was strong in this session, like it has been all day. The guys did a great job tuning it. We’re happy with the second row and we were able to save a set of sticker reds for tomorrow, so hopefully that will pay off. Overall, a positive day.”

“It was a great job by the 28 car today – they executed well. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the day we were hoping for on the other two cars. Just a rough day all around for them. We’ll regroup tonight and come back tomorrow stronger. We have three fast race cars, so we’ll see if we can get all three on the podium.”