By: Ashley McCubbin

TORONTO, Ontario — In the perfect world, Linus Lundqvist would be suited up and ready to race this weekend. However, that is not the case. So instead, he’s making the most of the experience at the Honda Indy Toronto.

Nolan Siegel, who drives the No. 6 for Arrow McLaren, suffered a crash at the Iowa Speedway last weekend in the first of two races during the weekend on Lap 248. He was not medically cleared for the second event as a result.

IndyCar Medical cleared Siegel this past week on Thursday, and he has been back in his usual ride throughout the Honda Indy Toronto. He qualified 13th for Sunday’s event.

“It feels good. We didn’t start where we needed to start, but we know what the issue was. We’re fixing it for tomorrow and should have a good day tomorrow,” Siegel told News From The Pits after first practice on Friday. “This is a street course that isn’t one of our strongest tracks but we’re trying to maximize the package and gain from last year. We tried a lot of different things. What we tried today did not work at all, but we know what did work today on the other cars and we can go there for tomorrow and have a good day.”

Though prior to the announcement and in case an issue arose over the weekend, Arrow McLaren brought in Lundqvist as a reserve driver for the team.

“It’s been great,” Lundqvist told NFTP on Friday prior to first practice. “The Arrow McLaren team have been really good since day 1, since it was known that Nolan couldn’t race in Iowa, and then maybe not sure of Toronto. They said, ‘Hey, let’s be ready in case that’s the case,’ and some of the guys that I worked with in the past are now at McLaren so it made for a fun reunion. Obviously now it’ll be good to see them working over a weekend compared to other teams I’ve worked with.”

Team Principal Tony Kanaan noted after first practice on Friday the team made the decision to not be in the same situation as last year when Alexander Rossi broke his thumb, and they had to fly in Theo Purchaire overnight.

“We obviously didn’t know if Nolan was going to get cleared until Thursday morning so why Linus? Of the current drivers that have driven an IndyCar, he was the best fit and he was available,” Kanaan told NFTP. “So my thoughts were from day one was it going to be extremely painful because he would be on his way here when we would find out if Nolan would race or not. We do not have room for Linus here in the near future – not even next year as Nolan is our driver. But he’s being a good sport and he’ll be around the cars all weekend long and hopefully this will help him find a spot in IndyCar. He’s a bright young star and I’ve been there as a racecar driver. That’s the worst nightmare to have.”

If Lundqvist had to fill in, it would have been his first laps behind the wheel of an IndyCar since September of last season.

“I think the toughest thing would be getting up to speed,” Lundqvist commented. “I know Toronto can be tricky in itself, but like I said, I haven’t been in an IndyCar since September of last year. So the challenge would be trying to get up to speed – making a lap around these streets is tricky as it is, but not a lap in the car since then would make it even trickier. I’m just here with the team, hanging out, trying to learn; obviously, I appreciate being on the inside a lot more.”

As of right now, there has been no announcements made with regards to his future in the series, but he has not lost hope yet.

“I mean, I’ve been believing in my chances – I don’t know about you, but that’s why I’m here,” he commented. “Even before this weekend, I’ve been a every single race, just not here with a team. But my goal is to be back full-time racing next year.”