Photo: IndyCar
Reigning Indy Nxt champion Linus Lundqvist completed his third IndyCar test outing at Sebring on Thursday, as he continues his search for a seat in the series.
Lundqvist’s first test came with Andretti Autosport in October 2021 on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, as a prize from Indy Nxt for finishing third in the standings that year.
He won the title with HMD Motorsports last season, but an adjustment to the series’ prize structure contributed to Lundqvist missing out on an IndyCar seat for 2023, and he could not find a professional drive in another series.
However he has back on track this April as Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing provided him with his first experience of driving IndyCar’s Dallara IR18 car in oval spec at Texas Motor Speedway, then Andretti chose him for the Formula E rookie test in Berlin.
Lundqvist impressed RLLR’s co-owner Bobby Rahal and at the time was in a position where information about his 2023 racing plans would “be announced shortly”. That turned out to be a Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia outing scheduled for the end of this month, but Lundqvist’s latest IndyCar test could open more doors in America.
“Had a great test at Sebring yesterday with ECR. Super happy and thankful to them for letting me back into an Indycar, which is always a lot, a lot of fun,” the 24-year-old Swede said to Formula Scout.
“Obviously it was very hard yesterday, we got a bit of a rain shower around lunchtime. But everything went through smoothly, we ran through the set-up programme that they wanted to try out. Which was fun to be part of and hopefully they learned a little bit from it.
“And yeah, hopefully I’ll be back, sometime soon, for a test, for a race, whatever it might be. Full focus is still for me to be in a position where I can be in IndyCar full-time in 2024, and obviously every opportunity that I get to be in a car, I’m going to take it. Happy and thankful to Ed and the whole team for this opportunity, and hope to be back soon.”
IndyCar inexperience may be less of a disadvantage in 2024, as the series plans to bring in an updated car that will utilise hybrid technology. The driver market is already in full swing at the top and the bottom of the grid too, meaning it could be crucial to land in the right place at the right time with negotiations this summer.