Rosenqvist Leads Honda Field in Toronto Practice Sessions
• Rookie Felix Rosenqvist posts second-fastest time in opening-day practice
• Scott Dixon leads morning session, ends day fifth overall
• Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal also record top-six times
TORONTO, Ont., Canada (July 12, 2019) – A two-time Indy Lights winner on the Exhibition Place temporary street circuit, Felix Rosenqvist led the way for Honda today in practice for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto. The NTT IndyCar Series rookie posted the third-quickest time in the morning session, which was led by his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, and was second-fastest in the quicker afternoon practice, less than a tenth of a second off the fast time set by Simon Pagenaud.
Rosenqvist was one of four Honda drivers to finish in the top six around the bumpy, challenging 1.786-mile Toronto street circuit. Sebastien Bourdais ended the day third overall in his Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda, with Dixon fifth after pacing the morning practice. Graham Rahal rounded out the top six in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
Alexander Rossi ran fourth in the morning session, but twice made contact with the wall and ended the day 14th overall. Hometown favorite James Hinchcliffe was 11th quickest, as less than a second covered the first 15 cars in a tight opening-day field.
Activities continue Saturday in Toronto with final practice and qualifying for Sunday’s 85-lap race. The 11th round of the 2019 season begin at 3 p.m. EDT Sunday, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
Felix Rosenqvist (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) second-fastest in Friday practice at the Honda Indy Toronto: “I think the team brought a great setup and a great car here to Toronto. We won here in Indy Lights, and so I’ve always loved this layout. We had a really strong start in Practice 1 [running third], and the car was even better in Practice 2. It’s always great having a teammate like Scott [Dixon], because there is such a wealth of knowledge on the #9 team. I hope we can keep things moving in the right direction for tomorrow, as qualifying [up front] will be crucial here.”