Dubai-born Ed Jones unleashed an impressive drive in the Iowa Corn 300 as he pulled off almost 70 overtakes to finish 13th on a day when extreme tyre degradation cost him a higher result.
The 23-year-old shrugged off a front wing adjustment to place 10th in the opening free practice session on Saturday, before posting a two-lap average speed of 178.720mph to line up eighth on the grid for the 300-lap race.
Behind the wheel of his Dallara-Honda single-seater, the 2017 IndyCar ‘Rookie of the Year’ subsequently improved again to sixth in final practice, leaving him feeling positive about his race day prospects.
On race day, the former European F3 Open champion stormed his way through from 19th up to seventh by lap 86, but tyre issues restricted him to a frustrating 13th place at the chequered flag.
“It was a tough day in the car,” said Jones, who is being coached this year by multiple IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti. “I felt comfortable in the car for the race, but unfortunately the tyre degradation was much greater than we had expected. I think looking at the results, the teams that tested at Iowa last month really had the upper hand.”
The former Dubai English Speaking College and Dubai College pupil currently sits 13th in the IndyCar Series standings on 222 points, 189 points behind leader Scott Dixon of New Zealand.
Next up for Jones is the Honda Indy Toronto on the downtown streets of the Canadian city this weekend.
