Searching for his first win in the United States, Dean Stoneman found the elusive checkered flag at America’s most famous track.
Stoneman held off challenges from Felix Serralles and Santiago Urrutia to claim his first Indy Lights victory in the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The win also marked the first of the season for Andretti Autosport.
While Stoneman found his drive to be relatively smooth at the front of the field, behind him things were much more dramatic. Andre Negrao found the wall before the race could begin. Trying to warm up his tires on a frigid Midwest day, Negrao lost control of his No. 17 on the front straightaway, slamming into the outside wall and irreparably damaging his machine.
Later, multi-car shunts would eliminate both RC Emerson and Zachary Claman De Melo. A single-car incident for Neil Alberico would end his day with six laps remaining.
Up front, Stoneman took advantage of clean air to keep Urrutia in his mirror through the closing stages. Urrutia crossed the line just 0.8659 seconds back but was unable to make an attempt at the lead.
Kyle Kaiser drove from the back half of the grid to claim a strong third and finish out the podium. Ed Jones and Serralles rounded out the top-5 finishers. Felix Rosenqvist, Shelby Blackstock, Scott Anderson, Scott Hargrove and Zach Veach rounded out the top 10 in what was a small 16-car field.
The Indy Lights tour will resume on May 27, when the field competes on the IMS oval for the Freedom 100.
2016 INDY LIGHTS RESULTS
Pos | No. | Start | Driver | Team | Laps | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 27 | 5 | Dean Stoneman (R) | Andretti Autosport | 35 | Running |
2 | 55 | 2 | Santiago Urrutia (R) | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian | 35 | Running |
3 | 18 | 11 | Kyle Kaiser | Juncos Racing | 35 | Running |
4 | 11 | 1 | Ed Jones | Carlin | 35 | Running |
5 | 4 | 3 | Felix Serralles | Carlin | 35 | Running |
6 | 14 | 4 | Felix Rosenqvist (R) | Belardi Auto Racing | 35 | Running |
7 | 51 | 10 | Shelby Blackstock | Andretti Autosport | 35 | Running |
8 | 77 | 8 | Scott Anderson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian | 35 | Running |
9 | 3 | 9 | Scott Hargrove (R) | Team Pelfrey | 35 | Running |
10 | 5 | 7 | Zach Veach | Belardi Auto Racing | 34 | Running |
11 | 2 | 16 | Juan Piedrahita | Team Pelfrey | 34 | Running |
12 | 28 | 13 | Dalton Kellett (R) | Andretti Autosport | 34 | Running |
13 | 22 | 14 | Neil Alberico (R) | Carlin | 29 | Contact |
14 | 13 | 15 | Zachary Claman De Melo (R) | Juncos Racing | 18 | Contact |
15 | 7 | 6 | RC Enerson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian | 3 | Mechanical |
16 | 17 | 12 | Andre Negrao (R) | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian | 0 | Contact |
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