Scott Dixon started second, overtook Colton Herta early in the race and marched to his 52nd career victory. Marcus Ericsson took fifth and increased his championship lead
It took 22 races and 14 months of waiting, but Scott Dixon is back in Indy's Victory Lane. The New Zealander from Ganassi took the Toronto GP, held this Sunday afternoon (17), at Exhibition Place. After starting from second place, the six-time champion overtook Colton Herta just after the first pit-stop window to take his 52nd career victory, his first since the 2021 Texas GP.
Andretti's pole-position Herta settled for second place on Canadian streets. It was only the American driver's second podium in 2022. Swede Felix Rosenqvist, who was involved in a collision with Alexander Rossi during the race, led McLaren to third place, taking the top-three for the first time since his victory at Road America in 2020.
RLL's Graham Rahal also had his best result of the year when he closed the race in fourth place after getting his strategy right. Championship leader Marcus Ericsson had another good showing to finish in fifth place.
Reigning champion Ganassi's Álex Palou made a good recovery after starting 22nd and finished 6th. Simon Pagenaud, Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, and Josef Newgarden rounded out the top-10 in Toronto.
Indy returns next weekend with a double-header at the Iowa oval. Race 1 takes place on Saturday (23), and race 2 on Sunday (24).
Find out how the Toronto GP of IndyCar Series went:
The start was authorized at 4:29 pm (Brasília time). Herta got off to a good start and held on to first place. Rossi tried to get on top of Newgarden, but couldn't do it. Sato destroyed his front left suspension after being hit by Castroneves in turn 8 and abandoned, causing the first yellow flag of the race.
The restart happened on lap 5. Herta once again started well, followed by Dixon, Newgarden, Rossi, and McLaughlin. Rosenqvist overtook Malukas and appeared in sixth position.
After 10 laps, Herta held a 1s612 lead over Dixon. The rest of the top-10, all on soft tires, had Newgarden, Rossi, McLaughlin, Rosenqvist, Malukas, Ilott, Ericsson, and Lundgaard. Among the front-runners, the first to go into the pits was David Malukas, who returned on hard tires. Next came Callum Ilott.
With 17 laps to go, Newgarden and Rossi came into the pits. In the next round, Scott Dixon came in. Then came Herta and McLaughlin. When the cars returned to the track, the six-time champion took advantage of Andretti's cold tires and took the lead. Malukas surprised and appeared ahead of Alexander.
With front-wing problems, Ilott slipped off the track and dropped down the field. With 24 laps to go, the race had a top-four consisting of Rahal, VeeKay, O'Ward, and Johnson, all running on hard tires and with no pit stops made. Graham ended up stopping earlier, while Pato, who overtook Rinus, stayed on track for more laps.
VeeKay came into the pits on lap 32, and O'Ward stopped next. Dalton Kellett's Foyt Chevrolet engine blew, and he retired to the pits. Dixon finally took the lead, 2.5s ahead of Herta. Johnson was still holding on in third, with Daly in fourth and Newgarden, 14s behind the six-time champion, in fifth place.
The order of the cars was reestablished on lap 37. Dixon was leading, followed by Herta, Newgarden, Rossi, Rosenqvist, Malukas, McLaughlin, Ericsson, Pagenaud and Rahal. This same sequence continued as the race reached its halfway point.
Rosenqvist started to put strong pressure on Alexander Rossi in the battle for fourth place. When trying to overtake in turn 3, the Swede put him on the inside of the American, but he oversteered and forced the Andretti driver to crash into the wall. Yellow flag on the track. With the pits open, all the drivers took the opportunity to make the second stop of the race, except for Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly, who took the first two positions.
The top-10 of the race had VeeKay, Daly, Dixon, Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin, Rahal, Pagenaud, Ericsson, and Palou. The restart happened on lap 49, with the leaders all holding their respective places. The yellow flag came out again on lap 55 due to debris in turn 1. The pits were opened, and Daly took advantage of the opportunity.
After proper cleaning of the track, the green flag came out on lap 59. VeeKay held on to the top spot, but the yellow came out again, this time for an accident between Kyle Kirkwood and Jimmie Johnson at turn 9.
VeeKay eventually came into the pits, returning the lead to Dixon, who restarted followed by Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin, Rahal, Pagenaud, Ericsson, Palou, Lundgaard, and Newgarden.
The restart came on lap 67. Dixon stayed well back in first, and the surprise was Graham Rahal, who jumped up to fourth. McLaughlin started very badly and dropped to ninth. Palou, in sixth, was on Ericsson's tail, looking for a place in the top five.
Scott shot to the top in the final laps, and the big fight of the race was for second place between Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist.
Indy 2022, Toronto GP, Race: