Toronto Momentum

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Marco Andretti’s #26 Dr Pepper IndyCar had a tough time during practice and qualifying. On Friday the crew decided to make some changes closer to his team mates but they had some problems.  “It’s a little frustrating but we’ll make some changes tonight and go back at it tomorrow morning.”

Marco ended up starting Sunday’s race in 20th spot. Numerous wrecks on the Toronto street course took out some of the top drivers, including Team Penske’s Will Power, who started the race from the pole. There were eight cautions and numerous other wrecks that didn’t require full-course yellows. Also among the crash victims were Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick, who crashed twice.

85 rough and tumble laps on the 1.755-mile, 11-turn street circuit knocked out six of the 26 starters via contact, while a dozen others were able to make quick repairs and rejoin the fray. Marco survived late contact and wound up a creditable fourth place.

“It was great to get the Dr Pepper car a fourth-place finish; especially considering we started 20th. We struggled with setups earlier in the weekend but then sat back and realized I was trying too hard to drive my teammates’ setups – I credit them for being able to pull it off but I can’t do it. My driving style is just too aggressive. We thought back to when we were last successful and tried to go back toward that type of setup.

We’re close and now we have a direction for the future. I feel for everyone who got taken out. Looking back, I think what happened to Oriol (Servia) was my fault, but that’s the position we’re put in with the double-file restarts. I tried to back out but was too committed and couldn’t back out enough”