- Swede finishes third at Portland International Raceway
- Indy Lights title to be decided next week in Laguna Seca finale
Linus Lundqvist picked up yet another Indy Lights podium with a run to third place at Portland International Raceway, while a P2 finish for only remaining championship challenger Matthew Brabham means the title race will officially carry on into next weekend’s finale.
Lundqvist lined up fourth in Sunday’s race in Oregon, but had to take evasive action when Christian Rasmussen went deep into Turn 1, instead dropping to fifth behind Brabham.
That became third when Danial Frost and Rasmussen then collided a few laps later and brought out the safety car.
After that, the order remained unchanged across the line, with Benjamin Pedersen scoring his maiden Indy Lights victory in front of Brabham and Lundqvist.
The result marks Lundqvist’s ninth podium in 12 races fo far in 2022.
“P3 is an OK result today,” says Linus Lundqvist. “We just didn’t quite have the pace this weekend, so congratulations to my team-mate Benjamin on his first win! I had a good start but was ran a bit wide by Rasmussen in Turn 1, which allowed Brabham past. After that, it was a pretty straightforward race.”
Lundqvist now leads the championship standings by 103 points from Brabham going into next week’s double-header finale at Laguna Seca. All other drivers are mathematically out of championship contention.
“It would have been fun to seal the title here, but in all honesty it doesn’t really matter,” Lundqvist concludes. “We know we have a big lead and I’m already looking forward to Laguna Seca and trying to round off the season with a win there.”
The 2022 Indy Lights season comes to a close on September 9-11.
RESULTS
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
Rd. 12 | Portland International Raceway
1: Benjamin Pedersen (DEN), 35 laps
2: Matthew Brabham (AUS), +0.965s
3: Linus Lundqvist (SWE), +6.408s
4: Jacob Abel (USA), +11.003s
5: Hunter McElrea (NZL), +11.334s
View full results
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
Top 5 | After 12/14 races
1: Linus Lundqvist (SWE), 515 p.
2: Matthew Brabham (AUS), 412 p.
3: Hunter McElrea (NZL), 401 p.
4: Sting Ray Robb (USA), 389 p.
5: Benjamin Pedersen (DEN), 385 p.
View full standings
