Lundqvist fastest as Indy Lights returns to oval action at Iowa

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Linus Lundqvist went quickest in Indy Lights’ sole free practice session on the Iowa Speedway oval.

The runaway championship leader jumped to the top of the order late in the session, when drivers mainly focused on race pace.

There was an early flurry of flying laps, where Matthew Brabham came out on top. He managed an average lap speed of 157.419mph, with Hunter McElrea, Sting Ray Robb and Christian Rasmussen making it an Andretti Autosport 1-2-3-4.

After a brief yellow flag for track inspection, the field headed out for long runs. Most drivers managed 60 laps across the day, with Brabham having done the most with a count of 83 before the chequered flag flew.

In the final minutes there was another flurry of flying laps, and Lundqvist – who had only been eighth quickest for much of the session – jumped up to first place with a 158.229mph lap.

Brabham improved on his quickest speed, but could only slot into second place, 0.0322 seconds slower than Lundqvist.

Jacob Abel briefly went third quickest but was beaten first by Rasmussen, then by McElrea who finished the session third quickest. Rasmussen took fourth, ahead of Abel and Robb.

Danial Frost put in his fastest lap late on to go seventh quickest, while Benjamin Pedersen, Christian Bogle, and HMD’s new signing Kyffin Simpson completed the top 10.

Free practice results