Lundgaard Scores First INDYCAR Victory in Toronto; Continues Honda’s 2023 Win Streak

• Christian Lundgaard scores career first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race victory at the Honda Indy Toronto
• Win is fourth in a row for Honda; seventh from 10 races in 2023
• Alex Palou builds championship lead with second-place result; Colton Herta completes 1-2-3 Honda Sweep

In just his second full season of NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition, Christian Lundgaard took control of Honda Indy Toronto to romp to his career first win by a massive 11.7 seconds.

Starting from the pole, Lundgaard dominated the opening stint, going slightly off-strategy with an early initial pit stop, and then pulled away to an unchallenged victory on the downtown Toronto temporary street circuit.

Championship leader Alex Palou after starting 15th hung on to finish second despite a damaged nose cone/front wing assembly, to increase his points lead to 117 after 10 of 17 races.  Colton Herta completed a sweep of the victory podium for Honda with a well-judged run; while defending race winner Scott Dixon made it 1-2-3-4 for Honda with a strong closing stint after his mid-race off-sequence pit strategy failed to play out.

Honda Indy Toronto Honda Race Results

R – Rookie

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 10 of 17 rounds)
Honda                  855 points
Chevrolet             751 points

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship Standings (unofficial, after 10 of 17 rounds)
1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda                 417 points
2. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda                -117
3. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske                             -126
4. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda        -142
5. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren                                  -143

Quotes
Christian Lundgaard (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) race winner, first career INDYCAR victory, seventh Honda win of 2023: “First win! I have to thank HPD for this one, quite honestly, because of the tricky conditions we had in qualifying with the wet. I had never driven qualifying [in the wet]—max attack, especially on a street circuit—and they helped me tune in my throttle maps to get the absolute maximum performance. And today, making fuel mileage was so easy! We were pulling away. We had to save less fuel than the others, but we were getting better fuel mileage and going faster. The first one you don’t forget, so thank you, Honda.”

Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished second, extends championship lead to 117 points over teammate Scott Dixon: “It was a tough day for the 10 car. We started P15 because we didn’t really nail our qualifying. But the car was super fast.  We knew this during the whole weekend. We made an alternative [pit] strategy when we were already up front and from there it was just about making the fuel mileage. Kudos to Honda! We just made a ton of fuel—I think we were making more fuel than we had in the car! Really fun day. Really glad that we got that #10 Journie Rewards on the podium, so P2 feels good today!”

David Salters (President, Honda Performance Development) on today’s win at the Honda Indy Toronto: “A superb, hair-shaving performance from Christian Lundgaard.  He obviously said to himself ‘must-dash’ prior to the start. Delighted to see a Honda podium sweep in front of our associates from Honda Canada and all the fans here today. Alex Palou did what Alex does, lovely to see; and great to see Colton Herta convert his obvious speed into a podium finish. Superb efforts from our partner teams Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Chip Ganssi Racing and Andretti Autosport; and massive congratulations to all the women and men at HPD who’s efforts continue to be rewarded.”

Fast Facts

• Honda continues to lead the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship, with seven victories and nine poles in 10 races this season. Honda currently has an unofficial 104-point advantage (855-751) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in the last six years in 2023.

• This is Honda’s 12th victory on the streets of Toronto, and fourth consecutive win this season.  The streak started with Alex Palou’s wins at the Grand Prix of Detroit, Road America and the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  Other Honda victories this season came at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg [Marcus Ericsson]; the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach [Kyle Kirkwood] and the AMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis [Palou].

Next
The 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES now returns to the USA for the only doubleheader race weekend of the year, at Iowa Speedway near Des Moines. The HY-VEE Home Front 250 takes place on Saturday, July 22; with the HY-VEE One Step 250 running on Sunday, July 23.

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Source – Honda