2024-07-22 13:29:03
Théo Pourchaire was recalled from McLaren following an injury to Alexander Rossi, and he endured a real race against time to get to Toronto in time for qualifying this Saturday race.
Théo Pourchaire found his seat in IndyCar faster than expected. While Sauber, the team that oversees the French driver’s career, recently assured that solutions were being worked on, the Grasse native saw things accelerate this weekend. Sacked by McLaren in mid-June to make way for Nolan Siegel, last season’s Formula Two champion was recalled by the British team on an emergency basis just weeks after signing a deal until the end of the 2024 season.
In fact, Alexander Rossi suffered a broken right thumb after running off the track during the first free practice session at the Toronto Grand Prix on Friday. In order to replace the American driver at short notice, McLaren managers decided to recall Théo Pourchaire this Saturday at 12:10 noon French time. From that point on, everything happened at such high speed that within 21 hours Grassois was in the cockpit of car No. 7, and he was… at home!
From a Toronto living room to a bathtub in a wheelchair in 21 hours
Although a flight to Canada was booked within 30 minutes, a McLaren official had to drive the Frenchman’s equipment to Toronto from the team’s base in Indianapolis. Théo Pourchaire received data that allowed him to be as prepared as possible to ride on a track he was unfamiliar with before boarding a flight from Nice to Frankfurt at 6:00 am French time. After a layover, the tricolor boarded a flight to Toronto at 10 a.m., a nearly nine-hour flight across the Atlantic.
He touched down just over two hours before qualifying for the Toronto Grand Prix began. He arrived at the McLaren facility near the track around 7:30pm French time and started qualifying at 9:10pm. Learning the route through laps, Théo Pourchaire did no better than second last, but the main thing lay elsewhere. The Glas native started this Sunday without any pressure and with the desire to achieve a good result.
Pourchaire: “We’re doing really well”
In this race, an impressive incident occurred on lap 73 of 85, specifically when Santino Ferrucci’s car hit the fence at the edge of the track and This resulted in two of his teammates, Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel, withdrawing from the game.
“This race was difficult for me. I think our team did a very good job,” the Frenchman said in a McLaren press release. “The car is incredible and the team did their best. I did my best too.” I’m not familiar with the track and I haven’t driven in five weeks. It’s incredible to go from 26th to 14th while avoiding an accident. However, I made a small mistake. Cost us a top-10 spot. » That performance could put him in the starting lineup by season’s end, and more likely in 2025.
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