Dubai-based Ed Jones will be looking to increase his lead on the top of the Indy Lights standings when all three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy series make a much anticipated return to the picturesque Road America circuit.
This is only the fifth time that Indy Lights race will be held at the legendary circuit, and is part of the IndyCar Series’ Kohler Grand Prix in Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. The last Indy race at the circuit was way back in 1990.
Jones, of Carlin, and his closest rival, Dean Stoneman of Andretti Autosport, are the only two drivers to have claimed a pair of wins in the eight rounds held thus far in the season. Only 29 points separate the two at the season’s halfway mark.
DRIVER’S STANDINGS
Pos Driver Points
1 Ed Jones 185
2 Dean Stoneman 156
3 Santiago Urrutia 146
4 Kyle Kaiser 144
5 Felix Serralles 140
6 Felix Rosenqvist 120
7 Zach Veach 114
8 RC Enerson 111
9 Shelby Blackstock 104
10 Andre Negrao 93
Jones and Stoneman were involved in the closest ever finish in the history of sport the last time they squared up against each other. At Mazda Freedom 100, Jones started from pole and seemed to have wrapped up a thrilling win, only for the timing screens to show Stoneman finishing 0.00024 seconds ahead of him.
Three drivers are the leading duo – Santiago Urrutia (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports), Kyle Kaiser (Juncos Racing) and Felix Serralles (Belardi Auto Racing) – are separated by a mere six points, with the third-placed Urrutia 10 points in arrears of Stoneman.
The majority of the Lights teams tested at Road America in May including Carlin, and Jones said: “It’s so much like Spa with the long straights and fast corners.
“That can make it difficult to put a good lap together because there are so many things to get right. It’s very challenging and I really enjoy that. It’s one of my favorites here.
“With the flowing, high-speed corners and heavy braking zones, it has a good mixture of everything. I think the racing will be very good especially since the long straights should create more opportunities for passing.”
Two new faces will be on the Road America grid as Garett Grist moves up from Pro Mazda to make his Indy Lights debut with Team Pelfrey and James French debuts with Belardi Auto Racing, filling in for Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist who has European racing commitments this weekend.
Race 1 of the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Road America will be held tomorrow at 9:00 pm Dubai time and Race 2 will be on Sunday at 5:45pm on Sunday.
