Colton Herta overtook Marcus Ericsson in the final minutes to set the fastest time in free practice 2 of the IndyCar Series in Toronto. Qualifying on Canadian streets is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET)
Andretti continued at the top of Indy's free practice sessions in Toronto, but now with Colton Herta. The driver of the #26 car clocked a 1min00s047 in the final minutes of the session held on Saturday morning (16), in Canada, and topped the chart of the last activity before qualifying.
Herta took the lead away from Marcus Ericsson. The Swedish championship leader was in second position with Ganassi, followed by the Penske of Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. The surprising Christian Lundgaard of RLL rounded out the top-15.
Six-time champion Scott Dixon was sixth, followed by Graham Rahal, David Malukas, Felix Rosenqvist, and Friday's leader Alexander Rossi, who rounded out the top-10.
The cars return to the track for qualifying, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. (GMT -3).
Find out how free practice 2 of the Toronto GP went:
The start of free practice was delayed by more than 30 minutes after repairs to the track due to an accident during a race in one of the weekend's support categories. By 11:33 am (Brasília time), the green flag came out for the 45 minutes of activity.
The first five minutes of the session were still very high, and that ended with Colton Herta at the top, setting a 1min02s110 with Andretti. Foyt's Kyle Kirkwood took the lead next with a 1min01s761, but it was to be short lived as Herta came out on top again with a 1min01s512.
While Dale Coyne's David Malukas became the new leader, defending champion Ganassi's Álex Palou drew attention when he hit the wall twice and damaged the front wing of the #10 car. The Spaniard managed to bring the car into the pits without causing a red flag.
In fourth position, Romain Grosjean destroyed his right rear wheel when he hit the wall at the exit of turn 11. The stopwatch was stopped and the red flag came out. The top-10 was made up of Herta, Malukas, Pagenaud, Grosjean, O'Ward, Rossi, McLaughlin, Power, Dixon, and Lundgaard.
The session was cleared for the final 26 minutes. Herta, with 1min00s487, held the lead, and the surprise was Rahal with the second best time, 1min00s532. The American didn't hold on to his position for long, as six-time champion Scott Dixon set a 1min00s528.
As the times improved, Dixon jumped to first place, beating Herta with 1min00s454. In the final minutes of the session, the lead was held by a New Zealander, but not the six-time Ganassi champion. Penske's Scott McLaughlin set a 1min00s338.
However, CGR was back on top again because of championship leader Marcus Ericsson, who jumped to the top spot with 1min00s208. Herta, who had led for most of the session, improved even further with 1min00s047. With 53 seconds to go, Dale Coyne's Takuma Sato crashed at turn 6, destroying his front left suspension.
The session was released for a final lap for each driver, and Herta was not unseated.