Hertha end win drought in drama-filled race

Andretti Global’s Colton Herta ended his drought with a long-awaited win on the streets of Toronto.

After starting from pole, Herta led 81 of the 85 laps after a weekend that saw him lead every session on his way to beating teammate Kyle Kirkwood by 0.3469 seconds on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit.

This was Herta’s first win since May 2022 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 41 races ago.

After a miserable qualifying, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon started from 15th to finish third, ahead of teammates Alex Palou and Marcus Armstrong in fourth and fifth.

David Malukas of Meyer Shank Racing was sixth, with Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing seventh. Rinus Fekkai (Ed Carpenter Racing), Romain Grosjean (Junkus Hollinger Racing) and Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) rounded out the top 10.

Race

Herta led the field to the green flag, which was immediately followed by chaos in the middle of the pack behind him.

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson collided with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen, sending him into the outside wall. In response, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard moved to the right and collided with Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who in turn collided with the #14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet driven by Santino Ferrucci and sent him hard into the inside wall.

While Rasmussen’s day ended early due to a damaged front left suspension, Ferrucci was able to continue the race after changing the front wing.

The race restarted on lap four, bringing another quick stop after a side-by-side battle between Scott Dixon and Agustin Canapino. The contact between the two sent Canapino’s #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet into the wall at Turn 4, bringing his day to a premature end. While the incident was under stewards’ review, no action was taken.

Herta again led the way to the restart on lap eight, maintaining a significant advantage over team-mate Kirkwood at speed.

McLaughlin’s performance as the only leader to start on softer replacement tyres – compared to others on harder primary tyres – saw him drop from third to fifth from lap 11-12, with Rosenqvist and Newgarden quickly passing.

McLaughlin’s struggle ended on lap 17 after he pitted and moved into the front row favourites.

Palou, who had started 18th and moved to 12th, pitted on lap 25 and moved to the bench, while Lundgaard, who followed him, chose to move to the starting lineup. Power pitted from sixth on the following lap and moved to the starting lineup.

Herta’s lead had increased to 1.7109 seconds by lap 28, with Kirkwood retaining second and Rosenqvist 2.921 seconds off the pace in third.

Graham Rahal stopped in ninth place and moved from the starting drivers to the substitutes, but also for a new steering wheel, which did not provide a solution to his dashboard problems.

Newgarden and Grosjean pitted from fourth and fifth respectively on lap 32, both switching to substitute drivers.

The trio of Herta, Kirkwood and Rosenqvist pitted on lap 33, with all three making use of their substitutes. However, Rosenqvist found himself under attack from Newgarden shortly after leaving the pits, driving on cold tyres and was unable to hold the position as the latter moved up to third on the session.

Dixon, who temporarily inherited the lead, was able to extend his fuel consumption until lap 37 before pitting to move off the main track.

Herta said he felt a vibration on the radio, which was reflected on the track as his lead over Kirkwood was reduced to 1.3389 seconds on lap 45 and then to 1.0493 seconds after just three laps.

Palou pitted on lap 50 and began a series of pit stops, returning to the qualifying races. The likes of McLaughlin, O’Ward and Grosjean pitted on the following lap, with McLaughlin moving to a new set of replacements; O’Ward and Grosjean went to the qualifying races.

Newgarden had a problem when he came into the pits on lap 53 after the team failed to fit his right rear wheel, dropping him from third to tenth.

Herta, Kirkwood and Rosenqvist pitted on lap 54, and all three returned to the qualifying races. Dixon took the lead again before pitting on lap 55 and also going into the qualifying races.

As the battle for the lead intensified over the next two pitstop laps, Rosenqvist attempted a late-race jump on Ericsson, who had just left the pits, into Turn 3, leaving the former to go off course and back on track, while Ericsson’s move was delayed by a collision with the tyre barrier.

When the race was settled, Herta was ahead of Kirkwood, with Dixon moving up to third, just 2.8 seconds off the pace. Herta’s lead over Kirkwood had been reduced to 0.9541 seconds by lap 65, with Dixon reporting a radio vibration.

The caution came out on lap 68 after Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kevin Simpson hit the tire barrier in Turn 8, causing the front left tire of his No. 4 Honda to snap.

The restart on lap 71 saw a good start from Kirkwood who managed to build a small gap over Dixon.

A massive multi-car collision with 13 minutes remaining brought out the red flag, which was lit after O’Ward spun at Turn 1 and Ericsson hit the outside wall to avoid him. Pietro Fittipaldi and Ferrucci, who were battling for position, collided with O’Ward, with Ferrucci going off the nose, tilting his head and hitting the guardrail before rolling upside down and coming to a stop on the bonnet of his car.

Ferrucci reported over the radio that he was unhurt, the spotter apologised and indicated that he had not seen that part of the track from the hotel vantage point, and several other spotters were identified. Meanwhile, Arrow McLaren rookie Nolan Siegel was right behind Fittipaldi and Ferrucci, and was part of a three-way hit on the front of Oward’s car. Dale Coyne Racing rookie Toby Sowery was also involved, and he hit Siegel’s car from behind.

The race resumed after a 20-minute red flag, with Herta leading the rest of the field with nine laps to go. However, caution was brought out again moments later after McLaughlin collided with Power at Turn 5, sending him into the wall and destroying his right-front tyre. Meanwhile, Newgarden suffered a right-rear puncture and had to pit.

McLaughlin waited until Power returned to the track under caution laps, and clapped his hands in disapproval of his teammate, causing an early retirement. As a result, Race Control issued Power a penalty for failing to pass through the pit lane.

The restart phase returned with five laps remaining as Herta was once again unchallenged by Kirkwood.

Hertha continued to push Kirkwood off the pace and claimed their first win since May 2022.