Linus Lundqvist has wrapped up the 2022 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship title, making him the first Swedish driver in history to win INDYCAR’s premier feeder series…
Lundqvist bagged the title with a solid drive in Saturday’s opening race at the Laguna Seca season-finale, where he steered his HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing car to sixth place.
In doing so, 23-year-old Lundqvist puts the title officially beyond reach for his rivals with one race still remaining on Sunday.
“Yes! We did it! Absolutely incredible,” an elated Linus Lundqvist shouts out. “This has been the main goal for me all season, and it’s hard to grasp that we’ve actually done it. It’s such an amazing feeling – I’m almost lost for words.”
The Indy Lights title triumph marks a significant moment in Lundqvist’s rise towards motorsport’s highest echelons. Since its inception in 1986, more than 90 % of Indy Lights champions – including 2021 winner Kyle Kirkwood – have progressed into the top-tier NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Among those to have won Indy Lights and gone on to INDYCAR stardom are the likes of Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden.
“This is the single most important moment of my life,” says Linus Lundqvist. “I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved, and extremely grateful to everyone who made it possible. That obviously includes all the guys and girls at HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing, as well as my sponsors, investors and my family who all have a big part in this success. We did it together. Thank you all so much!”
In clinching his latest title, Lundqvist upholds a trend of winning a single-seater championship every other year since making his car racing debut in 2015. He has previously won Sweden’s Formula STCC Nordic series (2016), British Formula 3 (2018) and USA-based F3-level championship Formula Regional Americas (2020).
The 2022 Indy Lights campaign comes to a close tomorrow (Sunday, 11 September) with the second and last race of the Laguna Seca season-finale. Linus Lundqvist will start on the front row of the grid, having qualified a mere 0.01 seconds off pole position.
