The 22-year-old Dane had been the star through the early rounds, with no showing more impressive than his Q2 flyer of 1m06.4610s that broke the 23-year-old track qualifying record held by Helio Castroneves to advance into the Fast Six.
Once the battle for pole commenced, Lundgaard’s Honda-powered Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry was equipped with a set of softer alternate tires.
He attacked the repaved 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course, which featured searing asphalt that exceeded 123F, in an effort to become the only driver to claim the top spot three times in 2023.
During Lundgaard’s first flying lap, he was tracking well into the green until a slight error in the Corkscrew caused him to run wide and cost him valuable tenths of a second and dropped his potential pace.
Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
He remained out on track to make another run, and got through the section that gave him problems the moments prior cleanly. But there wasn’t enough left in his tires to eclipse Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist pole-winning time time of 1m06.6416s.
In the end, he wound up third on the timesheet, 0.1062s behind, but reckoned his car was capable of a 1m06.1s if he’d strung his sector times together.
“It’s frustrating,” Lundgaard said. “Obviously seeing [my] optimal lap afterwards being a 66.1s it hurts right now.
“I’m happy for Felix to get that pole, to finish with McLaren like that it pretty cool and good for him. It’s tough for us. We were fast all weekend and it proves that car has been there, and I wanted to get the #45 Hy-vee Honda on the pole so we could finish the season with the most poles.
“But it wasn’t meant to be today. I just pushed too hard, I saw on the delta that I was faster than my Q2 lap and I went for it and it didn’t work.”