- Championship leader not playing cautious in Indy Lights title bid
- Swede targets victory repeat at Mid-Ohio
With half the season in the books, Linus Lundqvist has drafted up an 82-point lead atop the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires standings. This weekend, INDYCAR’s main feeder series returns to the track for the eighth race of 14 on the schedule; and the Swedish championship leader has no plans to back off.
As widely cited, attack is the best form of defence – and that is exactly the strategy deployed by Linus Lundqvist as the second half of the Indy Lights campaign beckons.
With racing returning this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, there is no denying what’s firmly on the 23-year-old’s mind: win number five of the season.
“It’s business as usual,” says Linus Lundqvist. “I’ll be going for victory. We’re just halfway through the season and, while it’s looking promising so far, I know how quickly things can swing. There may be a situation later in the season where I’ll have to think a bit differently, but that’s certainly not now. I’m looking forward to the weekend and we know as a team we need to keep doing the job, race by race.”
Lundqvist is already a three-time winner at Mid-Ohio heading into this weekend’s race; he won twice on his very first outing in U.S. single-seater racing in Formula Regional Americas in 2020, and pocketed another triumph in Indy Lights last year.
The latter came in dominant style in torrential rain, and as a matter of fact, Lundqvist has won every wet-weather race in Indy Lights across the last two years.
Intriguingly, the forecast for the up-coming weekend does include some scope for rain, although Sunday’s race looks set to be staged in beautiful, sunny conditions.
“We actually struggled a little bit at Mid-Ohio in the dry last year to be honest,” admits Lundqvist, driving for HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing. “We couldn’t quite match the Andretti cars, but then in the rain I was very confident. I’ve always enjoyed the wet, and let’s see what the weather does this weekend. I think regardless, we’re going to be strong. We had a positive test, in the dry, at Mid-Ohio recently, so we’re ready for whatever comes our way.”
Practice begins at Mid-Ohio on Friday, with qualifying taking place on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
Linus Lundqvist currently leads the Indy Lights standings on 315 points, with Sting Ray Robb (Andretti Autosport) second on 233.
TIME TABLE
All times local (U.S. Eastern)
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
Rd. 8 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Friday 1 July
Practice 1: 2:20-3:10 pm
Saturday 2 July
Practice 2: 8:35-9:15 am
Qualifying: 1:45-2:05 pm
Sunday 3 July
Race: 10:30 am
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
Top 5 | After 7/14 races
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.
View full standings
