JHR all set for race day push at Road America

Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers Callum Ilott and Agustín Canapino battled hard during a challenging qualifying today for Road America’s Sonsio Grand Prix, round eight of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

The team’s fastest laps of the newly-resurfaced 14-turn road course mean that Callum will start from P17 on Sunday’s grid, and team-mate Agustín will line up in P21.

Both men joined the action right from the start, after being placed together in group one. Primary Firestone tires were bolted to the #77 and #78 Dallara-Chevrolet cars at the beginning of the session, before a later switch to the red sidewall alternate tires.

In overcast conditions, Agustín finished the group in P10 with a best lap time of 1m 42.694s. Team-mate Callum finished alongside in P9 with a time of 1m 42.348s.

Callum Ilott said:

“It was a bit of a weird session for us, and I expected more. I ended up P17 overall, so it’s still an okay place to race from, but we’ll have a bit more work to do tomorrow.

“I had drivers spin in front of me on both runs, so that altered a couple of laps. This has been a tricky weekend so far, but tomorrow’s race is a whole different ball game and I think that we can do a good job.”

Agustín Canapino said:

“After qualifying in P21, we have improved a lot between this morning and now. I think we have a big chance tomorrow to have a good race. As always, we will try to finish the race in the best position possible to take home some points and gain further experience.”

Ricardo Juncos said:

“Today, Practice 2 was a lot better than yesterday, and then in qualifying we were a second off the pace compared to the leaders. Our drivers feel good with the car, but we’re still missing a little bit of speed. That is something which we will try to understand in tomorrow’s warmup. Now, we’re looking forward to the race.

“In INDY NXT, Matteo was really fast all weekend but he spun in qualifying and brought out the red flag and was penalized. We had an electrical issue with Rasmus’ car, and unfortunately he will start from the back tomorrow.”

Matteo Nannini’s strong qualifying pace will provide grounds for optimism as Juncos Hollinger Racing’s young drivers head into tomorrow’s INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America.

Both men will be keen to perform well tomorrow, as challenges during qualifying meant that Rasmus Lindh will start in P19 with Matteo ahead in P12.

Rasmus faced a premature end to the session when an electrical issue on the #76 car sidelined the Swede on the out lap.

Matteo was the first driver to record a flying lap, and the Italian-Argentinian performed well to maintain his place at the front of the group as the 10-minute session progressed. However, Matteo’s late loss of grip heading into turn one resulted in a penalty for the 19-year-old.

Matteo Nannini said:

“The car felt good today and I was pleased with the speed which we showed. It was a shame to spin and receive the penalty, but I’m looking forward to having a good race at an iconic track tomorrow.”

Rasmus Lindh said:

“We had really good speed in the car all weekend, and Matteo showed really good speed in qualifying.

“We had a wiring issue going on, which started off in Practice 1, so we’re trying to fix that. I cannot thank the team enough for all the work they’re doing, working late nights and throughout the day.

“We have a lot of work to do tomorrow, but I am looking forward to the occasion. Let’s go racing and see what we can do.”