17 Feb 2010: Indy Lights: Drivers get test laps under their belts
British Indy Lights drivers Pippa Mann and Martin Plowman have been getting to grips with their new teams by taking part in winter testing in Florida.
British Indy Lights drivers Pippa Mann and Martin Plowman have been getting to grips with their new teams by taking part in winter testing in Florida.
Pippa Mann is about to embark on a second test with Sam Schmidt Motorsports in her quest for an Indy Lights seat for next year.
Mario Romancini won the final Indy Lights race of 2009 with a last-gasp lunge for the line to snatch victory from champion-elect JR Hildebrand in the second-closest finish in the history of the series.
A quiet weekend in European racing allows attention to switch to the other side of the Atlantic – where no fewer than four open-wheel series all have their final races.
J.R. Hildebrand was confirmed as the 2009 Indy Lights champion during a fast-paced and closely fought Chicagoland 100 in which all the cars on the lead lap finished within three quarters of a second of each other.
JR Hildebrand ran away with the Carneros Indy 100 at the Infineon Raceway while his team-mate Sebastian Saavedra, sent to the back as penalty for an engine change, carved through the field to finish seventh.
A year ago James Davison won the Mid-Ohio Indy Lights race under bizarre circumstances in a rain storm – this season he returned to do it the conventional way, leading from pole to flag and giving Vision Racing its first-ever victory.
The Firestone Indy Lights drivers served up a thrilling side-by-side contest for their series’ 100th race – only to see the ending spoiled by a completely unnecessary caution flag that forced them to cross the line in single file.
JR Hildebrand led every lap of an uninspiring Indy Lights Grand Prix of Edmonton to win from pole and extend his championship lead to 69 points over team-mate Sebastian Saavedra.
Colombia’s Sebastian Saavedra won the Indy Lights Grand Prix of Toronto from pole, grabbing back the lead on lap 18 after losing it when the field pitted to change tyres on a track drying out from a pre-race thunderstorm.