Sweden’s Linus Lundqvist is a quadruple single-seater champion, clinching the 2022 INDY NXT championship, the 2020 Formula Regional Americas title, the 2018 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship and the 2016 Formula STCC Nordic crown. In 2024, he will race the #8 American Legion Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Linus Lundqvist consolidates Indy Lights lead at half time
Linus Lundqvist wraps up the first half of the 2022 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires campaign with a consolidated lead in the championship standings following an action-packed and red-flagged race at Road America this weekend…
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Strong recovery drive nets important P4 finish at Road America
Championship lead intact despite rare qualifying mistake
Linus Lundqvist wraps up the first half of the 2022 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires campaign with a consolidated lead in the championship standings following an action-packed and red-flagged race at Road America this weekend.
Lundqvist entered the Wisconsin meeting booming with confidence following a dominant clean-sweep in Detroit a few days prior, and duly picked up where he left off in Motor City by topping the times in opening practice.
The 23-year-old Swede continued along the same path in the first half of Saturday’s qualifying showdown, leading the charts after the field had completed their first runs.
However, a rare mistake in the decisive stages on his second set of tyres saw Lundqvist skate off the track, leaving him unable to improve on his previous time.
Restricted to sixth on the grid, it marked an unusual situation for the HMD Motorsports driver after a streak of five consecutive pole positions.
The race itself then proved eventful, featuring a red-flag stoppage at the halfway point following an incident that necessitated lengthy repairs to a catch fence.
Once action resumed, after a four-hour break to fit in the INDYCAR Grand Prix, Lundqvist took full advantage of his pace as others faltered around him, rising from eighth at the red flag to fourth at the finish to round out a strong recovery.
Lundqvist led home the HMD Motorsports charge, taking fourth behind a trio of Andretti Autosport cars having put third-placed Hunter McElrea under immense pressure for the final podium slot in the closing stages.
“It’s been a special weekend, which didn’t quite go the way we wanted but where we continued to have great pace,”says Linus Lundqvist. “It was looking very good until that little mistake in qualifying, which I think is pretty much my first all year. Starting from sixth and running down in eighth for a while, I think P4 is a solid result to come away with.
“It’s good damage limitation, we continue to have a healthy lead in the championship, and the pace has been there throughout, so all smiles and looking forward to the second half of the season.”
With seven of 14 races completed, Lundqvist leads the Indy Lights standings by 82 points from new runner-up Sting Ray Robb. It marks only a two-point loss over the Swede’s advantage going into the weekend.
Indy Lights is back in action on July 1-3 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where Linus Lundqvist won a rain-drenched season-finale last year.
RESULTS
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Rd. 7 | Road America
1: Christian Rasmussen (DEN), 20 laps 2: Sting Ray Robb (USA), +2.357s 3: Hunter McElrea (USA), +6.131s 4: Linus Lundqvist (SWE), +6.812s 5: Jacob Abel (USA), +10.706s
1: Linus Lundqvist (SWE), 315 p. 2: Sting Ray Robb (USA), 233 p. 3: Benjamin Pedersen (DEN), 218 p. 4: Danial Frost (SGP), 215 p. 5: Matthew Brabham (AUS), 214 p.
