Ed Jones is confident he has “a good race car” underneath him as he prepares to tackle the biggest event on his 2018 calendar, after safely qualifying for ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ – the legendary Indianapolis 500.
The talented young UAE-born ace, 23, is currently five races into his sophomore season in the fiercely-disputed IndyCar Series with Chip Ganassi Racing, sitting 14th in the standings among the 28 high-calibre contenders, with a brace of top-ten finishes to his credit including a breakthrough maiden podium around the Streets of Long Beach last month.
While that marked Jones’ first visit to the IndyCar rostrum, it was not his first top-three result – that came this time last year on his Indy 500 debut, as he grabbed headlines with a mature, composed and phenomenally impressive performance that belied his comparative lack of experience at the pinnacle of US open-wheel competition.
Fast forward 12 months, and the 2016 Indy Lights Champion and 2017 IndyCar ‘Rookie of the Year’ is back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday’s main event.
In second qualifying last Sunday, a small error on his third lap restricted Jones to a frustrated 29th on the grid behind the wheel of his 720bhp Dallara-Honda single-seater. But he remains upbeat about his prospects of moving forward in the 102nd edition of what is the largest single-day sporting event in the world.
“I went into Turn One and just lost the front of the car,” explained the former European F3 Open Champion. “I was heading for the wall on the exit so had to lift, which destroyed my momentum.
“That lap really hurt my average and it was very disappointing to have that happen, especially after having a solid car on Saturday.
“I felt so bad letting the team down, but we have a good race car that drafts up very well to the other cars – maybe even better than the one I had last year.”
