JHR show solid qualifying speed in St. Louis
World Wide Technology Raceway, IllinoisAugust 27, 2023
Juncos Hollinger Racing started its action-packed NTT INDYCAR Sunday in St. Louis with a solid qualifying display today. Callum Ilott will begin the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 in P9, while Agustín Canapino will start from the back of the grid after being handed a penalty.
Saturday’s stormy weather at the World Wide Technology Raceway resulted in qualifying being moved to 11.00 ET earlier today, while the final oval race of the season will go green at 15.30 ET.
The qualifying procedure dictated that drivers were given two warm-up laps, before completing two flying laps where their average speed was recorded. The cars were sent onto the track in reverse order of entrant points.
Agustín was up first in his #78 Dallara-Chevrolet, and he didn’t allow the grey skies overhead to cloud his performance. The Argentine started well with a 178.462mph first lap average, before improving on his second attempt with 178.517mph. Combined, this gave the rookie a P21 qualifying result with his solid 178.490mph overall.
However, a nine-place grid penalty for an engine-related infringement means the 33-year-old will start from the back of the field this afternoon.
Callum was the 12th driver to show his qualifying pace. The Briton used every inch of the 1.25-mile oval to produce an excellent first lap speed of 179.596mph, before going even faster on lap two with 180.825mph. Overall, the 24-year-old averaged 180.208mph – enough to place him P14 at the end of the session.
However, grid penalties that were handed to Callum’s rivals after the session means he has been moved up the grid order into P9.
“Overall, it was a very strong qualifying. The car felt great; we worked on it a lot during the test last week.”
Callum Ilott said:
“Overall, it was a very strong qualifying. The car felt great; we worked on it a lot during the test last week.
“Coming into the session yesterday, I got the car into a good window straight away and we have fine-tuned it for qualifying.
“I felt great on track today, but also felt that there was a little bit more in it on that first lap. Overall, it’s not bad to achieve P14 in qualifying. I should have good race pace, so I’m looking forward to it.”
“It was a good qualifying performance from the team today, especially as it is my first competitive visit to Gateway this weekend.”
Agustín Canapino said:
“It was a good qualifying performance from the team today, especially as it is my first competitive visit to Gateway this weekend.
“I earned P21 in qualifying, but unfortunately the penalty means that I will start the race further back. However, I have confidence that we will put in a positive performance later today.”