Pagenaud tops 2nd Toronto practice session.

Simon Pagenaud

Simon Pagenaud, who has claimed two road/street course victories this season, posted the quickest lap in practice No 2 for the Honda Indy Toronto in his Honda.

Pagenaud, driving the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 0.0084 seconds on the 1.7-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition.

"It's always a challenge in Toronto because of the different (asphalt and concrete) tarmacs," said Pagenaud, who won the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May and Race 1 at Houston seven weeks later. "Practice went well for us. Our sponsor, Oculus, is a Canadian company so it's great to shine here. The car is beautiful, similar to Houston, so I feel confident."

The top five cars, representing four teams, in the 45-minute session were separated by 0.0853 of a second. Championship points front-runner Helio Castroneves was second quick (1:00.0218) in the No. 3 PPG Automotive Refinish Team Penske car and Scott Dixon, who swept the Toronto races last July to vault into title contention, was third (1:00.0769) in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car.

Josef Newgarden, who tied his career best with a runner-up finish July 12 at Iowa Speedway, was quickest in the first session (1:00.2385) in the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing car.

After the session, drivers spent time practicing standing starts for tomorrow's race.

QUOTES
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Hydroxycut KVSH Racing Chevrolet): "We are not exactly where we want to be. It's not really what I expected. I am not super confident with the car. We have too much understeer and the rear is not awesome, but I was still able to produce a decent lap. We have some work to do, but I know the Hydroxycut guys will figure it out and we will be ready for the red tires and qualifying tomorrow morning."

MIKE CONWAY (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "We are not very competitive right now. We haven't got the car dialed in. It's the same as the Houston weekend. We haven't been able to tackle the bumps as we probably should. We'll have to try out a few things in qualifying on Saturday morning. We know where we need to improve with the car, but we haven't been able to do it just yet. So it is frustrating. We'll work hard tonight to get a better setup for Saturday."

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "It's good to be back in Toronto. We tried various things today, but the practice was cut short by a few minutes so we couldn't try everything. But we did make a step forward and improved the car. Hopefully it will show in tomorrow's qualifying and race."

CARLOS HUERTAS (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "The track is OK, it is really bumpy and that makes it really difficult to set the car up. It feels different than the other street circuits we have raced this year because it is difficult to get the balance right due to the change of surfaces in the corners. I am excited to be back on a street circuit because I have done well on them this year but it doesn't mean anything. Every race is different. Tomorrow and Sunday I will try to finish the races and do a good job."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 National Guard Honda): "We're making some good gains with the National Guard car. We are continuing to learn with our street course package and we learned a couple of things that would probably have helped at the other street courses, but we just never got to run new tires in the afternoon session to know exactly where we are competitive-wise. But either way it's going to be a hard-fought battle tomorrow. If you look at the timesheets, the entire field is covered by just under 1.2 seconds which is incredible. So we're going to have to be on top of our game tomorrow, but I feel like we have a good shot at it."

LUCA FILIPPI (No. 16 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): "The course is quite tricky because of the surface changes around the circuit and it wasn't easy to get confidence. So I took it easy today and we worked on the setup to give me better confidence with the car which we had at the end, but we didn't have the time to make a new tire run because of the red flag. We believe we could have been competitive. For sure we are improving so I'm not worried about the results of today and I am very motivated for tomorrow."

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): "(The car) is a handful. This track is always such a challenge for us set up wise, and we're seeing that again here today – even though we're less than a tenth off the pace. It's hard work out there trying to get that (fast) lap. The bumps, the surface changes, it makes it difficult to nail the set up. The United Fiber & Data guys are obviously doing a good job for the car to have the pace it does, but from where we're sitting drivers are never happy at this track. You're always looking for a little more. But, all in all, it's great to be back home in Toronto. I've said it before, we have the best fans here and I hope we can put on a great show for everyone this weekend."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 Dr. Pepper Honda): "We really only had one opportunity today to get the car dialed in, and that was Practice One. In Practice Two I barely got a run on old tires, let alone on new Firestones – I didn't get one lap on the new tires. We're going into qualifying a little bit blind which is frustrating. I'd like to know more about what we've got in the Dr Pepper Honda, but I guess we'll figure it out when we go green."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "It's always great to be back in Toronto, I love this city and this racetrack. It was tough to get into a rhythm in practice though. I was somewhat pleased with the car at the end. We were about three-quarters of the way around the track when the yellow came out, and the complete lap would have put us in the top five. I'm okay with the car; we'll see where it goes tomorrow morning with qualifying. We don't have a whole lot of time to get it right from here with qualifying and then the race."

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "It was an OK day. I think we finished 13th this morning and 11th this afternoon. Not where we want to be just yet but I feel like we are close, a couple of changes going in the right direction and we will be right there. I feel like it is within grasp. If we make the right call tonight we will be in the top 6 for qualifying and have a chance at winning this race. The downside is that there are probably 15 people thinking that. We just have to make sure we make the right call and see what the race gives us."

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Hartman Oil/Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): "It was a good day, a nice start to Toronto, good weather today. We'll see how that holds up, it looks like it might rain tomorrow. We'll see what the conditions are, but for sure in the dry we have a good start. We're a little stronger than we looked in the second practice so I think we'll be right in the hunt for qualifying in the morning."

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda): (About double-header weekend) "It's an interesting thing. It's a love and hate situation, I think. Love because when you have a bad day then the next day, you can have another race and bounce back like we did in Houston. With that situation, it's fine. It's nice. My first win in Detroit last year, we did the same thing. We had a bad (race) on Saturday and then a good day on Sunday. So those times are good. It's very physical. Especially Houston was because of the heat. For the crew, for the drivers, for everybody– to do two races in two days. But I guess it's great for the show. So as long as the fans are happy, I'm happy. That's what we're here for and I've adjusted, but it's certainly very demanding.

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers KV AFS Chevrolet): "I am excited to be at Toronto, a track that I enjoy driving. We have had positive balance so far, but the times don't reflect on how well the car is really doing due to the red flags at the end of the last session preventing me from doing a lap on fresh tires. Aside from that I am happy with how strong the No.17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. – KV AFS Racing car feels and we did a couple of solid standing start practices so I look forward to having a good qualifying and race tomorrow."

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