Saturday’s practice session from the streets of Toronto saw Andretti Autosport lock out the top spots once again, showing that the team’s street course package is one of the best in the field.
Just as the session got underway, light rain began to fall around the 1.79-mile course, but it was never quite enough to necessitate a fitment of the wet Firestone tires.
At the top of the timesheets was Colton Herta, who improved his position from the day before with a time of 1:00.5657.
Kyle Kirkwood was the second fastest driver, giving Andretti Autosport the first two positions for the second session in a row.
Marcus Ericsson and Alex Palou filled the third and fourth positions respectively, with Chip Ganassi Racing gaining some momentum heading into qualifying.
Rounding out the top five was Pato O’Ward, who completed the fastest lap by a Chevrolet-powered entry.
Felix Rosenqvist brought out the session’s only red flag when he pushed his Arrow McLaren Chevy too hard in Turn 5.
The AMR safety crew had to bring his car back to the pits hanging off the back of a tow truck, but the Swede was still able to get most of the session complete before the wreck ended his running.
Tom Blomqvist looked much more comfortable than he did on Friday, completing laps that were over a second quicker than his first practice run the day before.
Blomqvist still finished as the slowest driver in the final practice session, however, and will look ahead to tackle IndyCar qualifying for the first time later in the afternoon.
The constant sprinkles that fell all session left the track a hair slicker than usual, especially on the portions of the surface that are composed of concrete.
That slickness led to many drivers being forced into the runoff areas when they pushed the limits too far under braking.
A quick spin to get back on track was the worst of the consequences for most, however, and Rosenqvist was the only driver who caused any damage to his car on the concrete barriers that line the course.
The large dips in the road that affected drivers on Friday continued to play into the racing lines taken on Saturday, particularly the one surrounding the manhole cover in turn 10.
After analyzing how their cars reacted the day before, some drivers chose to go wide through the turn and avoid the dip completely. Others chose to get as close to the inside wall as possible, hitting the dip with the outside front wheel only.
Teams will have a few hours to plan their attack plan for qualifying, which takes place at 2:45 PM Eastern time. Rain chances continue throughout the afternoon as well, potentially adding another layer to the strategy.
