Race

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s junior drivers had mixed fortunes at race one of the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix today, as Rasmus Lindh finished P12 and team-mate Matteo Nannini claimed P14.

Rasmus started the contest on row three, after qualifying in P6, while team-mate Matteo lined up in P16.

Both JHR drivers made a fast start, as Matteo progressed to P14 in the opening laps while Rasmus climbed to P3. However, upon the restart of a caution period, Rasmus suffered contact from a rival at turn three to drop down the order.

Another caution at the halfway point brought the pack together, as Matteo and Rasmus were determined to climb up the field. Both men recorded their fastest lap times upon the resumption of the race on laps 34 and 35 respectively.

Sunday’s second INDY NXT race of the weekend will provide another chance for JHR to claim a result on the streets of Detroit. Matteo will start the contest in P18, and Rasmus will line up in P12.

Matteo Nannini said:

“I started P16 and finished P14, so it could have been better but also could have been worse. We know what we have to work on, so I’m hopeful that tomorrow will be better.

“By starting P18 tomorrow, I will have to work harder to get a result, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Rasmus Lindh said:

“We had a really good start to the race. We started off P6 and after some incidents on the first lap we made it up to P3.

“From the restart, I was unlucky to get hit from behind in turn three from another driver. That basically ended the race for us. I tried to move up through the field as much as I could, and through the race we made it back to P12.

“We made a big jump in speed from qualifying yesterday, so I want to thank the team. We’re starting from the back tomorrow, but we’ll keep pushing.”