A race victory and a fourth place finish at the hallowed Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit two weeks ago saw him top the standings with 160 points, 21 more than his closest challenger after seven of 18 rounds.
Speaking to Sport360, Jones said: “It feels great to have the points lead with almost a race win in hand. We have been working really hard and the results have come along, now the aim is to keep it that way.
“When you have a lead like mine early in the season it is very easy to start to try defend your position rather than continue attacking, you see this a lot in every form of sport. I am very conscious of this as I feel I did this a bit last year which cost me.
“Therefore the aim is to continue to be the attacker, every session, every race we have to go out there right on the edge with the same mentality that got me to this current situation. It’s only right at the end of the season when you should even think about defending your lead and in most cases that still isn’t the right way to go.”
The Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit was packed with challenges and incidents which Jones tackled with confidence thanks to the experience gained during his rookie season last year.
He said: “It wasn’t quite the perfect weekend because it should have been two wins, but we take a lot of encouragement from it nonetheless and the Carlin boys did a fantastic job as ever. I really can’t thank them all enough,”
.@IndyLights point leader @Edjonesracing is only driver with 2 wins. 6 winners in 7 races so far. #MRTI pic.twitter.com/98JRrHtAJC
— Mazda Racing (@MazdaRacing) 17 May 2016
A couple of months earlier, the season did not get off to a good start for him, but the pendulum has swung back his way in recent races.
“We did get off to a bad start at St Petersburg in the first round of the season but that was more down to something out of our control which forced me to start near the back,” added Jones.
“But since that race, I have started every single race from the front row on the grid and finished in the top two apart from the last race where an error of mine cost me.
“The key to this has just has been the progress we have made after every session we have driven in. We are always improving from the first lap on track at a race weekend till the last and so far been a step ahead of everyone most of the time.”
Inevitably, talk of stepping up to getting back on the oval next weekend during the Indy 500. Firstly, it’s Indycars is common in a series that is dubbed the ‘Road to Indy’ and Jones is certainly one of the young drivers who will be attracting the attention of team principals.
“Every weekend has been gaining more attention and more talks with Indy Car teams are going on so it’s looking good,” revealed Jones.
“However we are not even half way through the season so there is still time until teams decide exactly what they want to do for next year.”
For now, the seven times UAE champion is focusing all his attention on Indianapolis Speedway.
Jones will be racing for the second time at the venue of the legendary Indianapolis 500.
“I’m really looking forward to the biggest race event in the world and this year, being the 100th running, it is going to be crazy,” he said.
“Secondly I have just fallen in love with the ovals recently. Mentally it’s the most challenging and exciting thing I’ve ever done. You are driving round at an average speed of 200mph, inches from the wall, on the edge trying not to freak out. Whilst that’s happening your engineer is trying to make your car even faster by taking grip away and making the margin for error even smaller.
“A big part of being one of the best drivers on the ovals is blind faith, being able to trust that you’re going to make it, even though there is nothing to validate that the car is going to grip.”
