Track conditions at Exhibition Place presents tire challenge for IndyCar Series race

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TORONTO — Even IndyCar Series drivers are annoyed with the road conditions in Toronto.

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Kyle Kirkwood of the United States had the fastest lap in the first practice round of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto on Friday, completing the course around Exhibition Place in one minute 1.205 seconds.

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Kirkwood and Australia’s Will Power, who was fastest in the all-car wave, both said that the section of the street course entering Turn 3 was particularly rough.

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“Massive bump, new bump at the end of the straight and into three,” said Power, who won in Toronto in 2007, 2010 and 2016. “Like, actually hurts. It’s so bad. Right in the braking zone, boom.”

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Kirkwood agreed with Power during their post-practice news conference.

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“They repaved something,” said Kirkwood, describing the stretch of Lake Shore Boulevard just east of Ontario Drive. “That bridge used to go there, right?

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“For some reason, they put a strip of pavement just in that section.”

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Power and Kirkwood were referring to a section of Lake Shore that is under construction as Ontario Place is torn down and replaced by Therme Spa and a waterpark. The redevelopment has received heavy criticism, including a report from Ontario’s auditor general in December that said the submission process for the deal was not fair or transparent.

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Auditor general Shelley Spence also found that it will cost more for the government to build a new Ontario Science Centre at Ontario Place’s old site than it would have to maintain the site it abruptly closed in 2024 in Toronto’s northeast corner.

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Although Power and Kirkwood were presumably unaware of the controversy around the development, they were still very concerned about the resulting bump on Lake Shore, the westbound straightaway where their open-wheel cars build up most of their speed for the 11-turn, 2.874-kilometre course.

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“I honestly think they need to grind it tonight, because it’ll hurt racing,” said Power. “Because you’ll be very apprehensive to go up the inside.

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“They should grind it.”

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Scott McLaughlin of New Zealand was second in 1:01.341 and Spain’s Alex Palou, the IndyCar Series points leader, was third in 1:01.599.

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Reigning champion Colton Herta of the U.S. was 10th in 1:02.022.

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Toronto’s Devlin DeFrancesco, the only Canadian entered in the IndyCar Series race, was 25th in 1:02.9283.

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IndyCar announced earlier in the day that Scott Dixon received a six-position starting grid penalty for an unapproved engine change following last week’s race at Iowa Speedway. Dixon, from New Zealand, is a four-time champion in Toronto, second only to all-time great Michael Andretti’s seven wins.

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Headlined by an IndyCar Series race on Sunday, there’s a total of nine races from several series and a variety of automobile classes over the weekend.

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Kirkwood and Power noted that because there’s no IndyCar Lights or other supporting series racing in Toronto this weekend there was less rubber on the road to help with their tires’ grip on the bumpy and mixed surface.