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.
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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.”
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
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.
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“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.
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“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.”
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Photos from Road America – Saturday
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Will Power, Andretti Global
Will Power, Andretti Global
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Will Power, Andretti Global
Will Power, Andretti Global
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Will Power, Andretti Global
Will Power, Andretti Global
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Will Power, Andretti Global
Will Power, Andretti Global
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
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Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Will Power, Andretti Global
Will Power, Andretti Global
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
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Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
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Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing
Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
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Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
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Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing
Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
David Malukas, Team Penske
David Malukas, Team Penske
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
David Malukas, Team Penske
David Malukas, Team Penske
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
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Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
David Malukas, Team Penske
David Malukas, Team Penske
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
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Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing
Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing
Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images
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