Christian Lundgaard will have his work cut out for him in tomorrow’s IndyCar Series round at Road America after narrowly missing out on the Fast 12 during a frustrating qualifying session.
The 24-year-old Danish driver has endured a rough weekend to this point at the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course. While he ended up next to last in the second practice session, it was furthered in qualifying when he was the first driver to miss the transfer spot in Group 1.
Despite Lundgaard’s best efforts, he ended up falling 0.1037s short, leaving him seventh in the group and starting 13th for Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix. It was especially perplexing considering he was among the short list of drivers to test last week at the track based in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
"We clearly found something compared to P2 [second practice]," Lundgaard said. "It’s been a struggle; we’ve been on the struggle bus all weekend. We don’t really understand why, which is the toughest part to swallow. Obviously, we were competitive here last year and were right there in the test. Nothing feels like the test."
The disparity in performance between his car and teammates Nolan Siegel and Pato O'Ward, who both also underwent engine changes ahead of Saturday’s on-track festivities, qualified eighth and 10th, respectively, only added to the frustration.
"I don’t really feel like it’s the same for the two others," Lundgaard said. "What it is we don’t know. We’re trying to figure it out. We made some improvements in qualifying, but we’re just playing catch up."
Lundgaard currently sits fourth in the IndyCar Series championship standings, 96 points behind leader Alex Palou (342-246).
While there is optimism to get it right before tomorrow’s 55-lap race, notably with a morning warm-up session, there is some element of concern.
"I’m not going to say I’m not worried for tomorrow, but again, we’ve got a lot more laps to figure it out," Lundgaard said. "A lot can happen in terms of strategy. We know how the yellows are going to fall, if they do what they’ve done previously.”
Photos from Road America - Saturday
50 IndyCar
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
Road America - Saturday, in photos
