Dubai's Jones finishes fourth at Indianapolis GP

Sport360 staff 08:53 10/05/2015
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  • Zooming ahead: Ed Jones finished third in Race 1 & is championship leader.

    Dubai-based British youngster Edward Jones drove the race of his life to protect the slender lead he holds in the Indy Lights championship at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis last night.

    Jones, 20, born and brought up in Dubai, had done well the previous night by finishing third on the podium in Race 1 and wresting back the lead of the championship that he had secured following his opening three-race victories.

    A poor showing in races 4 and 5, where he finished fourth and 11th respectively, saw American Spencer Pigot shoot to the top of the standings. A third place finish and a distant seventh-place finish for Pigot on Friday night resulted in the Briton regaining the series lead from the American by a one-point margin, 147-146.

    However, matters got complicated when Pigot’s compatriot, Jack Harvey, dominated the Friday night race, which catapulted him to third overall, just two points adrift of Jones.

    Under the circumstances, last night’s Race 2 was important if Jones had to stand any chance of consolidating his position at the top in the coming rounds. The Brit started the race from pole position, but in disastrous fashion.

    Eventual winner Sean Rayhall made a perfect getaway from the outside of the front row and managed to find his way past Jones before Turn One.

    Behind, contact between Harvey and Jones sent the latter into a spin from which he was fortunate to emerge unscathed, albeit at the tail of the field.

    Several other contenders also were delayed as a result. Jones found himself in seventh place, and with 18 laps of the 35-lap race gone, Jones had managed to climb up to sixth.

    The Dubai resident weaved through the cars in front of him and by the time the chequered flag had dropped, Jones managed to finish fourth and claim 19 precious points.

    Unfortunately for Harvey, a mechanical problem on the final lap dropped him to fifth. Last night’s result enabled Jones to stay in the lead with 166 points to 162 for Harvey, with Pigot trailing 11 points further back in third.

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