Qualifying Report: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham

MARKHAM, Canada (Aug. 15, 2026) -- On the brand new street circuit in Markham, Canada, Santino Ferrucci and Caio Collet will face a challenging race day tomorrow as qualifying did not go well for either driver, but it was not because they didn't have fast cars.

While they will start in 21st and 23rd spots respectively on the 12-turn, 2.1 mile course, they know that their cars are quick which gives them confidence for the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham.

Santino Ferrucci had struggled in the practice sessions and did a complete changeover in setup for practice 2 which he felt suited his driving style more so than his teammate's setup. In qualifying he was much happier with the Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet and felt they would advance to the next round when they switched from the primary tire to the alternate. The unfortunate timing of the red flag didn't allow Ferrucci to get the alternate tires to their optimal pressures.

"The car is in a pretty competitive lap time range. When it goes red on your second warmup lap and you don't get to complete that lap and the timing doesn't allow you to get back out there to do anything other than another warmup lap, the tires never come in. So, I think if the red flag didn't happen, we would have been fine," Ferrucci explained.

Collet adapted to the brand new 2.1-mile street circuit quickly. He was second fastest in the first session and fourth fastest in the second one.

Collet showed his prowess early in the No. 4 Combitrans Chevrolet as he was second quickest in the first practice and fourth quickest in the second session. Unfortunately, with less than three minutes to go in the second session, he spun while trying to avoid another car sitting in the middle of the track. He hit the wall hard with the right rear of the car.

Collet was not injured but the car required an all-hands-on-deck repair. Mechanics from the 14 crew pitched in to help ready the car for qualifying in the two hour span. The team had to replace the hybrid, the bell housing, the undertray and right rear suspension. It was a monumental effort and the crew rolled out in time with three minutes before qualifying was supposed to start. Fortunately, a track repair from a previous race delayed the start by 15 minutes.

With 'a little help from their friends,' the crew got to work on the car as soon as it was towed in after the session.

However, during the run, Collet stopped on track with a loss in fuel pressure which brought out the red flag with just over two minutes to go.

"Yeah, I think something maybe related to the hybrid or the fuel pressure," said the disappointed rookie. "We had to change the hybrid after FP2, and the team did an incredible job to get the car ready for qualifying, but, yeah, I think in the rush of everything, maybe something was a little bit off. Things happen, not much else to say, and just hope that we have a clean race tomorrow. We definitely have the pace, and we will keep pushing."

Louis Foster won the NTT P1 award with a lap time of 1 minute, 13.2383 seconds (103.225mph).. Rounding out the Firestone Fast Six were Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Ericsson, rookie Dennis Hauger and Rinus Veekay.

The teams will have a morning warmup before the 90-lap race which will be broadcast on FOX starting at 12 noon ET.