Pourchaire returns to Arrow McLaren for Toronto in place of Rossi

Theo Pourchaire will sub for the injured Alexander Rossi, who broke his thumb in a crash on Friday during practice for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. “Following an on-track incident where Alexander Rossi sustained a broken right thumb, …

Theo Pourchaire will sub for the injured Alexander Rossi, who broke his thumb in a crash on Friday during practice for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto.

“Following an on-track incident where Alexander Rossi sustained a broken right thumb, Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team announces Theo Pourchaire to race the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet for the remainder of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto race weekend,” the team confirmed. “Theo will arrive to the track ahead of the qualifying session Saturday afternoon, missing Practice 2 as he travels to Toronto from Europe. Alexander has returned to Indianapolis to begin his treatment and the team wishes him a quick recovery.”

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The Frenchman, who was signed by the team to stand in for the injured David Malukas in April, was replaced in the No. 6 Chevy in late June when it struck a multi-year deal to run Nolan Siegel. Despite having a few options to consider with other stand-in drivers, Pourchaire remains under contract and is a known quantity who is familiar with the latest hybrid-spec version of the Dallara DW12 Indy car.

Despite his knowledge of the car and team, the reigning Formula 2 champion has never driven the Toronto circuit and will need to learn the layout and its intricacies at the start of qualifying.