Christian Lundgaard has steadily assembled a respectable 2023 campaign in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, with one of the building blocks a fourth-place finish in The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid on July 2.
The 21-year-old Dane now has two top-five finishes, five top-10s and one NTT P1 Award through nine of 17 rounds. Even better, though, the most recent result at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course vaulted him into the top 10 of the championship standings – 10th – and just 35 points behind Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in sixth (229-194).
Although the showing at the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge magnified Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s struggles on ovals, the program’s package on road courses and street circuits has been respectable, if not stout. Lundgaard, like everyone in North America’s premier open-wheel championship, is a competitor who desires better results.
“In terms of our expectations, they are high, but I think every human being within this industry, in this sport, has high expectations because otherwise I think they're in the wrong industry,” Lundgaard said. “The result of a P5, P4 or even a podium, I think that's where we expect to be. But considering that we're 10th in the standings with the lack of performance that we've had at ovals, I think we can be pretty satisfied with being 10th in the standings, which just means that we're doing great when we have the packages, but we just need to be better everywhere else.”
Lundgaard, driver of the No. 45 Vivid Clear Rx Honda, reaffirmed his confidence in the RLL team.
“I do think the package that we have as a team, on the 45 car at least, we are good enough to fight for the title,” Lundgaard said. “We just aren't fast enough on the ovals, which is pretty simple, and I think everybody can see that. We know where we need to make the biggest changes, for sure.”
The recent results at Mid-Ohio and Road America, where he finished seventh, have provided Lundgaard with momentum heading north of the border for the upcoming Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday, July 16 (1:30 p.m. ET on Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network).
Last year, Lundgaard finished a solid eighth on the tight and tough 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street circuit at Exhibition Place. Additionally, that result ignited a second-half surge of two top-fives and five top-10s over the final eight races, including a career-best runner-up in the Gallagher Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
It’s all part of the reason why Lundgaard is carrying “high expectations” into Canada.
“It’s going to be a fun weekend to see where our progression is,” Lundgaard said. “Looking at some of the races this weekend, I've been trying to do some stats on my own in terms of where we are from last year to this year on certain tracks and types of tracks, et cetera.
“Honestly, it seems like we're moving in the right direction on road courses. I would say street circuits is a little hit and miss, ovals is pretty much the same, if not even worse, which is a little disappointing, obviously. Going into Toronto, we're carrying the momentum, so I think we can do great. We just need to do it. That's the most important.”