Andretti driver Kyle Kirkwood was sure that without an oversteer snap he would be celebrating Colton Hertha’s pole after qualifying at Indy Toronto on Saturday.
On his out lap of his final run, Kirkwood suffered from an oversteer snap that ruined his preparation. Darting the pits for more fuel, he missed the cutoff and set a final lap time.
Kirkwood was unable to set a single flying lap time on Fast Six. In other words, his best rap recorded is 1:04.5, more than five seconds away from Herta’s 0:59.4.
Back from the car near the paddock, Kirkwood spoke to the FS1 and explained with confidence.
“It happened where I got a big snap there, it was under the steering wheel and I got through there when it was important at the pole and the bottom, and I got a big snap.
“It feels like I’m throwing it away (them) and throwing poles left and right on the street course.
“It didn’t feel very good if I was honest, so we’ll come back, we’ll see it and figure out exactly what happened.
In a bad run, Kirkwood saw hopes for a championship fight for him as Alex Pallow and Chip Ganasi continue to carry on unprecedented results.
Entering Iowa in second place in the championship, a poor qualifying mix of tire failures at the Synk 275 and a 275 from a 18th place finish in Farm means he’s fourth in Synk 275, Pato O’ward, Mid-Ohio winner and Scott Dixon.
With Andretti looking much faster in Toronto, Kirkwood was ready to take another pole this season after making his first achievement at Long Beach.
Disappointing, Kirkwood was able to show that at least his Andretti’s teammate, who took pole, was his Andretti’s teammate, and that he didn’t lose to the team the expected starting position from practice 2, in which he showed the dominant car.
Speaking about his teammates, Kirkwood said: I’m very happy to be happy with the team (and) the 26 cars, but (I) are very disappointed with its performance on Fast Six.
“I was about to come to the pit lane because I knew the rap had already been shot. It was like, ‘Can I get some fuel and try and go out to another person?’ They seem like “no.”
“In hindsight, it was the best idea to go (and get) to the pole, but it probably cost me an extra number of positions just because I didn’t even rap.”
Kirkwood has some settlements, as he was not the late Andretti today. Marcus Erickson is struggling again.
Even before the session, his mechanic was in a hurry to fix the braking issue, so the Swedish driver managed to pass through Group 2, then eliminated in Round 2, making it eighth place.
Not in a bad position, but his final lap time was from Hertha’s close to two seconds.