Lundqvist Edges Out Car for Pole in FR Americas Qualifying

Lundqvist Edges Out Car for Pole in FR Americas Qualifying

Technical VIR turns complicate FR Americas qualifying

Lundqvist Interview: https://youtu.be/i6IuQVk6Pq0

Alton, Virginia (July 18, 2020)- Linus Lundqvist results remained perfect on Saturday morning as the Global Racing Group rookie secured his second (provisional) pole of the season, breaking the qualifying track record with a fast time of 1:43.477-seconds. The previous lap record (1:43.486-seconds) was set in 2018 by Benjamin Pedersen. 

"Really excited to bring home another pole-position start for my team Global Racing Group," said Lundqvist. "They gave me an amazing car to start with and it's my duty to get the job done. We are looking forward to Race 1 later today."

The opening laps for Lundqvist were a bit rough. The 2018 BRDC British F3 champion went off in Turn 4 after dropping wheels through Turn 3. Sucking grass into the intake of his No. 26 Paytrim machine, Lundqvist pitted. 

With Lundqvist 's charge stalled in the pits, Jordan Missig and Joshua Car traded fast laps. On Lap 8, Car crossed the stripe setting fastest time of the session. In the same turn sequence that gave Lundqvist troubles at the start of qualifying, Car dropped wheels off in Turn 3, making contact with the tire barrier. The incident brought out a red flag with less than 10 minutes remaining in the 30-minute session. Car was unscathed but the contact damaged his nose and front win, forcing Car to retire early from the session.

Seconds before the red flag dropped, Lundqvist topped Car's time by a tenth of a second to claim pole position, worsening the blow for Car.

The clock expired under red, leaving Missig (1:44.085-seconds) unable to contest Lundqvist's time for pole. The Newman Wachs Racing rookie settled for a Row 2 start. Global Racing Group driver Nicky Hays (1:44.250-seconds) will share Row 2 with Missig. 

Andretti Autosport rookie Danial Frost (1:44.259-seconds) and James Roe Jr. (1:44.429-seconds) will start from Row 3. 

Pedersen (1:44.502-seconds), David Malukas (1:44.691-seconds), Victor Franzoni (1:44.729-seconds) and Dario Cangialosi (1:45.062-seconds) rounded out the top 10. 

Race 1 starts at 2:55 p.m. Eastern. Fans can stream the race worldwide on FANRacing.Live

Provisional Qualifying