Matthew Brabham third in Detroit as Hunter McElrea spins off the podium
Matthew Brabham finished third in the first race of the Indy Lights weekend in Detroit as Hunter McElrea spun out of contention.
Linus Lundqvist, Benjamin Pedersen and Matthew Brabham celebrate in the fountain in Detroit. (Penske Entertainment)
Swedish driver Linus Lundqvist sped away from pole position to take a green-to-chequered victory interrupted only by the pace car.
The race was first interrupted when Jacob Abel was helped into the barrier by Christian Rasmussen.
Abel retired to the pits while Rasmussen was demoted to the rear of the field.
Rasmussen was on a charge after the restart, making his way back up to fifth before he collided with the barrier in turn five late in the race, bringing out the pace car for a second time.
Lundqvist held his own at both restarts, building up a health lead each time before finishing with a 3.7232 second lead over Danish driver Benjamin Pedersen.
“I can’t really ask for much more, can I?” said Lundqvist.
“First, a massive thank you to my team, HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing."
"Congrats to my teammate on P2."
"Good for us to get a 1-2 as a team."
“It’s been a perfect day for us today."
"We’ve got another race tomorrow, but we’ll celebrate this one a little bit and full focus on tomorrow.”
Hunter McElrea leads Matthew Brabham in the early stages of the first race in Detroit. (Penske Entertainment)
McElrea and Brabham made their way through the field in the early stages before coming up behind Danial Frost, running in third position.
The Kiwi made his way past Frost and looked set for a podium finish before spinning out and falling to the rear of the field.
Brabham was next to make his move, but Frost made his #68 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing entry as wide as possible around the streets of Belle Isle.
The battle suspended when the Singaporean suffered an engine failure and limped back to the pits, with Brabham promoted to the final step of the podium.
Lundqvist leads the standings after three race victories from five races.
Aussie Matthew Brabham is fifth, with Kiwi Hunter McElrea seventh in the tight competition.
McElrea is second in the rookie standings, just behind Christian Rasmussen.
The 2022 Indy Lights season resumes with race two in Detroit at 2.00am Monday morning (AEST) before heading to Road America for the halfway point of the season next week.
2022 Indy Lights Championship - Detroit Race 1
- Linus Lundqvist
- Benjamin Pedersen
- Matthew Brabham (AUS)
- Christian Bodle
- Kyffin Simpson
- Antonio Serraville
- James Roe
- Ryan Phinny
- Ernie Francis Jr
- Danial Frost
- Sting Ray Robb
- Hunter McElrea (NZ)
- Christian Rasmussen - DNF
- Jacob Abel - DNF
