Christian Lundgaard back at Exhibition Place with IndyCar’s new hybrid powertrain

TORONTO (AP) — Christian Lundgaard is back at Exhibition Place a year after racing to his first IndyCar victory on the street course.

“It brings back a lot of good memories,” Lundgaard said Friday. “But it also brings pressure. Of course, we want to perform at the same level as we did last year.”

The race Sunday will be the first street event for the hybrid powertrains introduced two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio.

“I think with the hybrid this year, a lot of us are going to spend time trying to figure out how to utilize it, but at the same time it’s about having the car in the right window,” said Lundgaard, the 22-year-old Dane who drives for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Three-time Toronto champion Will Power is coming off a victory last week in Iowa on an oval. The Team Penske driver also said the biggest adjustment with the hybrids will be their strategic use.

“It’s still worth three-tenths (of a second), which is 10 spots in this series, so if it didn’t work, or if you didn’t use it properly, it’ll cost you dearly,” Power said.

Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing leads the season standings.

Qualifying was set for Saturday to determine the starting order for the 85-lap race.

In the opening practice session Friday, Colton Herta of Andretti Global had the fastest lap at 1:01.8906, followed by Palou at 1:02.0804. Lundgaard was 12th at 1:02.6594.