Arrow McLaren Indy Toronto: Qualifying Report

What a crazy way to end the day in Toronto.

A dry practice session in the morning, led to quick times on the leaderboard, but as qualifying began, so did the rain.

Pato O'Ward qualified third after forced to run wet Firestone tires in Round 1 and 2 to make the Firestone Fast Six. Also making the Fast Six, Felix Rosenqvist and his No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew recovered nicely from an incident in Practice 2 to qualify fifth.

Alexander Rossi in Round 1 suffered an issue with his steering wheel and was forced to stop off track and will start Sunday's race in 26th.

Read what the drivers and Racing Director Gavin Ward said after qualifying from Exhibition Place.

Pato O'Ward, Driver, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, said:

"That was a gnarly session. That kept me on my toes every single lap. Obviously, it was a drying race track, and it just kept getting better and better. The No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was feeling good; it was all about having confidence in it and really attacking some of the corners that you didn't quite know what they had in store. We just kept on pushing, and it's a second-row start for the team tomorrow. It's a great starting position to challenge for the podium and the win."

Felix Rosenqvist, Driver, No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, said:

"It was a hell of a day. That was a lot of work, but we ended up P5 in the end, an amazing recovery from a crash in Practice 2. I sent it in a bit too hard into Turn 5 and hit the wall. I didn’t really hit hard but unfortunately damaged how the front wing came into the tub, so we had to build a brand new car ahead of qualifying. Basically the whole team, the No. 5 and No. 7 crew as well, came out, and there was just like a bee hive around the No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet for three hours between practice and qualifying. We did a seat fit 50 minutes before we jumped in, and we were still doing things for the belts and stuff. To end up in the Firestone Fast 6 and P5 after that was just a huge statement to this whole team, having got together and got it done. It was more work than we needed, but we made it through."

Alexander Rossi, Driver, No. 7 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, said:

"My steering wheel failed in the braking zone, and I didn’t have the ability to shift or pull clutch. I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s a real shame because the car was great and had what we needed to qualify without a problem. We will regroup and be ready to fight from the back tomorrow."

Gavin Ward, Racing Director, Arrow McLaren, said:

"That was a heck of a thrash for the team after Felix had a bit of an off in practice and unfortunately put a hole in the chassis, so we had all hands on deck. We had people jump in from all three crews to get the No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet out there. Felix didn't disappoint to put it up there in the top five. Two cars in the top five is a great result, but at the end of the day our cars are very strong in the wet, and we had an electrical issue with Alexander's steering wheel that cost him the chance. I have no doubt that he would have been right up there with them. That's something we need to learn from and fix, some work to do there that's the team's doing. All in all, we're ready to race tomorrow."

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