Linus delivered amid the pressure of a short and intense qualifying showdown to snatch pole position for Sunday’s Race 2 at the Detroit Indy Lights round…
Having grabbed P2 behind Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood in first qualifying yesterday, Linus and the GRG/HMD operation struck back emphatically on Saturday morning, powering to pole in a truncated second session.
Already ten minutes shorter by schedule than the Friday session, Qualifying 2 got even more compact when Antonio Serravalle brought out an early red flag after tagging the Turn 6 barriers.
That left just ten minutes to throw in the decisive laps, with Linus immediately on the pace and gradually lowering his times.
Eventually working his way down to a 1m23.567s, Linus ultimately fended off his rivals to seal his third pole position of the year, leading team-mate David Malukas to a GRG/HMD front row sweep for the weekend finale.
Linus lapped the tight Belle Isle track 0.160s quicker than anyone else could manage, as Kirkwood slotted into P3 a further two tenths down on Malukas.
This is Linus’ first-ever career pole at a street track.
“That was great! We came close yesterday and I had one lap that possibly could have challenged Kirkwood, but it wasn’t quite enough – so I’m really pleased to get the revenge today! “I’m thrilled for my third pole this season, and also very happy for the entire team for this front row lock-out. David has done a great job recovering from his practice crash, so well done to him as well. I’m really looking forward to the races, starting both from the front row, and the aim is to be there and battle for the victory.”
The first race of the weekend, which will see Linus start from second on the grid behind Kirkwood, takes place at 
12.10 pm / 
18.10. You can catch it LIVE at www.linuslundqvistracing.se.
