Dubai-based Briton Edward Jones endured a disappointing weekend after he lost the lead of the Indy Lights championship when Spencer Pigot won his second race on the trot late last night in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Jones, who has shifted focus from racing in the Formula Three championship in Europe earlier and turned to Indy Lights in the United States with Carlin from this season, appeared to be off the pace the whole weekend, finishing race two second from bottom.
Race one winner Pigot clearly relishes the Barber Motorsports Park circuit, where one year ago he won both rounds of the Pro Mazda Championship.
What a day for @RisingStarRcng !! @ProMazda @IndyLights @IndyCar !! @neilalberico @josefnewgarden hopefully we can do it again!
— Spencer Pigot (@SpencerPigot) April 27, 2015
This weekend, after stepping up to Indy Lights with his Juncos Racing team by virtue of a Pro Mazda Championship title and a Mazdaspeed scholarship, Pigot repeated the feat as he dominated both races that comprised the Legacy Indy Lights 100.
Englishman Jack Harvey, who finished second in the championship in 2014, losing out on the title only on a tie-breaker, finished second again – for the fourth time in five races this season. Former Formula One driver Max Chilton took third to secure his first podium appearance of the season.
Pigot, 21, from Orlando, Florida, led all 35 laps yesterday after starting from the pole. His only real scare came on Lap 13, when Jones (Carlin), who had rejoined almost a lap down following an incident on the first lap, came across his bows just as Pigot was turning into the final corner.
Disappointing day, puncture on lap 1 cost us a podium if not win considering we had the best pace back on track. Will be back next time!
— Edward Jones (@Edjonesracing) April 27, 2015
Contact was made but miraculously there was no lasting damage to either of the Mazda-powered Dallara IL-15s. Jones continued to finish 11th.
Pigot’s second win in as many days, allied to a pair of third and a second in the opening three races of the season, was enough for him to leapfrog Jones in the championship points table by a margin of 132 to 125.
Pigot said: “I was behind Ed when he came back out on the track and was behind him pretty much the entire race.
“I was quicker than he was but it’s a difficult place to pass, with all the aero-dependent corners. I tried to take the opportunity to get around him, so I could stop abusing my tyres trying to get around him.
“I got alongside but he wasn’t going to let me by and we touched wheels. I decided to let him run his race at that point. But I knew I was pulling away from Jack at the same time, so I didn’t want to take any chances.
“It’s been an amazing weekend. We got the car sorted out very quickly out of the trailer on Friday and the car has been fantastic all three days. It’s great to have your first wins under your belt; you know you can do it now but it also adds pressure on you and your team.”
Harvey ran second throughout, despite driving with a broken thumb sustained one week ago at Long Beach. Scott Anderson finished a distant fifth, followed by impressive Indy Lights newcomer Sean Rayhall, who finally snuck past yesterday’s podium finisher RC Enerson with a fine pass in Turn 6.
