Race

Juncos Hollinger Racing showed strong race pace at the Honda Indy Toronto earlier today as rookie Agustín Canapino equaled his best result of the season by finishing P12, while team-mate Callum Ilott was also set for a positive result until he suffered a late retirement.

A strong display in this morning’s warmup allowed the team to test the pace of its cars in clear and dry conditions – a stark contrast to Saturday’s wet qualifying session in which Callum and Agustín secured P16 and P18 respectively.

Mechanical grip was key to unlocking performance on Exhibition Place’s bumpy street circuit and both men began on Firestone’s black sidewall tire when today’s race went green.

The team made its customary fast start, and both drivers confidently balanced performance and endurance in the opening stages as they improved their lap times – despite unsettling tire degradation.

Agustín was first to visit the pits for a fresh set of green sidewall tires on lap 33. The softer compound rubber, which is made from sustainable materials, went onto Callum’s car two laps later.

The tricky 11-turn track yielded several caution periods during the race which meant teams had to re-evaluate their strategies on more than one occasion. Despite this, both JHR cars ran close to the top 10 for most of the race.

However, a late brush with the wall forced Callum into retirement with only four laps left to run. The Briton was running in P14 at the time – despite visiting the pits four times. He was classified P18 at the end of the race.

Agustín meanwhile, maintained a two-stop strategy across the 85 laps and equalled his best result of the season by claiming P12 at the checkered flag.

Today’s result matched the Argentine’s return from the races at St. Petersburg and Texas Motor Speedway earlier in the season, and will give the #78 pilot further confidence ahead of next week’s double-header at Iowa.

Callum Ilott said:

“Today’s race was definitely not an easy one, and unfortunately we spent a lot of time in the pits which meant we were on the back foot. However, we came back through the field and were in a good position by the end of it. We finished a couple of laps down in P18 after I took a little bit of damage on the front of my car and that caused some understeer. When I tagged the wall in the final corner it was game over. The end was one to forget and I think we’ve got some work to do in the pit stops as we head to Iowa.”

Agustín Canapino said:

“I’m really happy with my race result, finishing P12. This matched my best result so far this season, so I am really proud. We competed with the top teams for the whole race, which was a great experience.

“I would like to thank the whole team for giving me this opportunity, and now I can’t wait to get back on the track next weekend at Iowa.”

Ricardo Juncos said:

“I am really pleased with the effort of the whole team this weekend. Unfortunately for Callum, it was not the race we were hoping for. We had issues on the pit stops, and he was on course to finish inside the top 12 before making contact with the wall near the end.

“Agustín earned a really good result, and the strategy for the #78 car was well executed. I’m really happy for him, as this matches his best result of the season so far.

“Now, we are gaining traction for the remainder of the season. This weekend we showed our potential, so we will keep moving onwards as a team. I’m looking forward to a double-header of racing next weekend at Iowa Speedway.”