Christian Lundgaard wins Honda Indy Toronto — and not by a whisker

Danish driver Christian Lundgaard didn’t think his car would be quick enough to win Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto, even after he was fastest in Saturday’s wet and wild qualifying.

He was happy to correct himself after a runaway victory at Exhibition Place that put Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing back on the map after three long years.

“I think that today we proved to be the better car out there, but I wasn’t expecting to be this fast,” Lundgaard said after breezing to the finish 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Alex Palou, the IndyCar series points leader.

By becoming the first Dane ever to win an IndyCar race, Lundgaard also gave RLL Racing its first victory since the 2020 Indy 500, and first on a road-street course since 2017.

To celebrate, he shaved off his moustache after promising to grow one until his first triumph rolled around.

“Yeah, we did it in victory lane — just whoosh,” he joked, while making a swiping motion. “I still haven’t seen what it looks like … I guess we’ll have to see.”

Lundgaard made the switch to IndyCar in 2021 after failing to earn a Formula One ride through the Alpine team’s junior program.

“We have to reproduce this result now,” he said, “but it obviously feels good to get that first one.”

Team president Bobby Rahal won Toronto’s first IndyCar race back in 1986, and was moved to tears when Lundgaard took the checkered flag. During the team’s three-year drought, Rahal fired several people and battled depression.

“I wasn’t sleeping well,” the 70-year-old Rahal said. “We’re here to win. We’re not here to frickin’ play around. I’m telling you, it was bad.”

Rahal, whose son Graham finished ninth on Sunday after starting last in the 27-car field, said May in particular was a challenge: last in qualifying for the Indy 500, followed by a miserable performance on the street course in Detroit: “A year ago I had open heart surgery, and this May pushed me backwards. Everyone was working their butt off and (the Indy 500 and Detroit) just haunted me.”

Palou was among the top contenders who hurt their chances by struggling in qualifying. He started 15th on the grid.

“That’s on me,” Palou said. “I wasn’t able to put together the good lap when I was supposed to. We had a very fast car here this weekend, and I’m glad (we finished second).”

That result was something of a miracle after the right side of Palou’s front wing was badly damaged in a collision with Helio Castroneves on the 48th of 95 laps.

“I could see the right side (of the wing) dropping and the left side lifting. So I said, that’s not good,” Palou said. “I don’t know how it was holding together. I think it was the (sticker) tape holding it. It just got worse and worse.”

Colton Herta wound up third, the first podium finish of the season for the Andretti Autosport driver who had taken the pole in the previous two races.

Toronto’s Devlin DeFrancesco, the lone Canadian in the field, avoided a seven-car crash on the opening lap but was forced out on lap 59 with a brake problem.

While attendance figures weren’t immediately available, race officials said Sunday’s crowd was bigger than last year’s, which was the largest in 20 years.

Palou managed to extend his series lead to 117 points over Scott Dixon. Anything less than runner-up could have opened the door for more drivers to have a shot at catching him in the second half of the season.

“It all worked out. We just didn’t qualify very well,” Palou said.

Lundgaard’s team had the best pit strategy of the day, coming in for fuel four laps after Palou did on lap 45 and managing tire changes to perfection. Lundgaard had plenty in reserve over the final 40 laps, while Palou and Herta had to be cautious.

Scott McLaughlin, who qualified second, and defending champion Scott Dixon gambled on fuel — hoping for a caution flag or two later in the race — but it didn’t pay off. Dixon finished fourth, McLaughlin sixth.

Lundgaard, who led 54 of 85 laps, roared out of a pit stop and caught Palou on lap 62, stormed by the points leader’s damaged car at the end of the Lakeshore straightaway and never looked back.

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