St. Petersburg – Qualifying 1: Linus frustrated with P6 after late red-flag interruption

Linus was left ruing what could have been in opening qualifying for this weekend’s Indy Lights races, despite going just three tenths off pole and leading the way among the St. Pete first-timers.

A late red-flag stoppage for Alex Peroni’s crashed Carlin brought the session to a premature halt in the critical, dying moments, leaving Linus unable to post a time on new tyres.

He had started the session on a scrubbed set and pitted for fresh Cooper Tires halfway through, but got stuck in traffic and then – when ultimately released – had to abandon a personal-best lap when the red flags flew.

As it was, he was left a frustrated P6, 0.3s down on pole-setter Kyle Kirkwood.

LINUS: “That’s frustrating. We had the pace to be up there in the battle for pole, I’m absolutely confident about that. Unfortunately I encountered traffic on all of my early new-tyre laps, and then the red flag ruined it for us today. It’s a shame because I’m really getting up to speed around here and the car is great. Let’s give it another go in Q2 soon.”

Qualifying 2, which will shape the grid for Race 2, takes place at 5:25 pm / 23.25.

All sessions are live-streamed here at www.linuslundqvistracing.se.