IMS Indy Lights: Lundqvist takes points lead with second win

Polesitter Linus Lundqvist got his Global Racing Group/HMD Motorsports off to a clean start with, after some Turn 1 shuffling, Toby Sowery (Juncos Racing), David Malukas (HMD) and Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Autosport) falling in line behind. Alex Peroni of Carlin was fifth, while Danial Frost, Devlin DeFrancesco and Robert Megennis kept the other Andretti cars in 6-7-8^th.

Malukas passed Sowery for second into Turn 1 on Lap 3 but already found himself two seconds behind Lundqvist. The following lap that was out to 2.5sec.

Christian Bogle spun his Carlin car at Turn 1 on trying to get around Sting Ray Robb’s Juncos car for ninth, on Lap 9. He got going again without assistance, but not before losing two spots. Two laps later, Carlin’s hope took a further knock when Peroni locked up a front tire at Turn 12 and ceded fifth place to Frost. However, Peroni took only three more laps to pass Frost, who soon came under pressure from De Francesco but managed to hold on to sixth.

Up front at the halfway stage of the 30-lap race, the top four ran approximately 2.5sec apart, with Peroni now 4.5sec behind Kirkwood. Malukas was not giving up his pursuit of Lundqvist, being the first driver to duck into the 1min16sec lap zone, on Lap 19, and getting his deficit down to 1.8sec a lap later. Malukas’ progress left Sowery more than 4sec in arrears with eight to go, but still 2.6sec clear of Kirkwood, who had a slight venture into the Turn 1 runoff that cost him half a second.

Lundqvist got the gap out to over 2sec again on Lap 25 by snipping a couple of hundredths from Malukas’s best lap. That effectively broke the challenge from his pursuers and Lundqvist finished the race 2.4sec clear of his teammate and took over the lead of the championship.

Sowery was third, 8.8sec off the lead, and 4.1sec ahead of Kirkwood. 

Peroni was fifth, while Frost staved off De Francesco all the way to the end.