Linus Lundqvist took a brace of P4 finishes from the last Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires round before the summer break at Mid-Ohio, with the Swede remaining in title contention sitting third overall…
Lundqvist found himself running on the fringes of the podium in both of this weekend’s two races, and also held third in the early stages of Race 2 until slipping to fourth after running deep following a safety car restart.
The Mid-Ohio meeting saw rival outfit Andretti Autosport claim a pair of double wins courtesy of Kyle Kirkwood (USA) and Danial Frost (SGP), while Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports took third and fourth in both encounters with David Malukas (USA) and Lundqvist.
The weekend featured a strong comeback from Lundqvist in the first qualifying session, where he lapped less than a tenth off the front row despite being forced to sit out the preceding practice session after an uncharacteristic off on his first lap.
“Not the best of weekends, where we’ve lacked a bit of pace,” says Linus Lundqvist. “I also made one or two mistakes too many, and that’s always going to hurt you at this level. Still, to a certain extent I think we can bepleased with a couple of P4 finishes on what has largely been a difficult weekend. It shows that we’re always there or thereabouts, and we maintain a strong position in the championship.”
Kirkwood now leads the standings, 11 points ahead of Malukas and 25 ahead of Lundqvist heading into the seven-week summer break.
“Now is the time for everyone to get some mid-season rest, recover and regroup ahead of the last part of the campaign,” Linus Lundqvist concludes. “I will be heading back to Sweden for a few weeks to catch up with friends and family, and then I’ll return fully determined to take us back to the front.
“A special thank you to Utah Airguns for their support this weekend. Thank you as well, of course, to everyone at Global Racing Group and HMD Motorsports for all the hard work so far this year. I’m already looking forward to getting back out there pushing!”
Indy Lights will resume at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinois on August 19-21. The event will mark Linus Lundqvist’s first-ever races at an oval track.
RESULTS
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
Rd. 6 | Mid-Ohio (USA)
Race 1
1: Kyle Kirkwood (USA), 35 laps
2: Danial Frost (SGP), +6.866s
3: David Malukas (USA), +10.406s
4: Linus Lundqvist (SWE), +13.252s
5: Devlin DeFrancesco (CAN), +14.036s
View complete results
Race 2
1: Kyle Kirkwood (USA), 35 laps
2: Danial Frost (SGP), +4.166s
3: David Malukas (USA), +4.807s
4: Linus Lundqvist (SWE), +8.142s
5: Devlin DeFrancesco (CAN), +13.489s
View complete results
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
Top 5 | After 12/20 races
1: Kyle Kirkwood (USA), 290 p.
2: David Malukas (USA), 279 p.
3: Linus Lundqvist (SWE), 265 p.
4: Danial Frost (USA), 204 p.
5: Toby Sowery (GBR), 201 p.
View complete standings
