Look back in history Sunday: Three Kiwi drivers competing in Indy Lights

Cunningham third after exciting Firestone Indy Lights race

Former race and series winner Wade Cunningham (Royal Spa/Brian Stewart Racing) played a key role in the Firestone Indy Lights support race at the Indy 500 meeting in the United States this morning, starting and finishing third.

Cunningham was one of three drivers to dispute the lead of the weather-postponed race, pushing eventual winner Dillon Battistini early on and through the middle of the race and only relinquished second place to 2008 series points leader Richard Antinucci after a late race re-start.

He also enjoyed the distinction of setting the fastest race lap by a leader (189.517mph) on lap 7.

It was an impressive effort from the 2003 World Karting Champion and 2005 Indy Lights series champion who only got the call up to replace Brian Stewart Racing’s regular driver, Peruvian Juan Manuel Polar, minutes before the first practice session at the track.

Cunningham was officially credited with leading two of the race’s 40 laps but for much of it was never more than a few centimetres off the gearbox of British driver Battistini’s car, even after Antinucci passed him with just seven laps to go, the Italian crossing the finishing line 0.2458 of a second behind Battistini, Cunningham 0.5033 and the first of the American drivers Robbie Pecorari (who finished fourth) 0.7977.

“It was a bit of a gamble on setup, really,” said the 23-year-old from Auckland.”We didn’t do much running in practice and the conditions were a lot different, so I think we ran with a little too much downforce and that was pretty evident once I got to the lead. Dillon was able to pass me at will. So it was just a case of managing the race. Once he and I broke away, it was kind of easy to manage the draft of one car. I could just time it through one and stick with him. I really wasn’t trying to push him or anything, I was just waiting for the end of the race.

“Unfortunately someone had some problems out there and we got that 10-lap shootout at the end and that just allowed the field to bunch back up. Richard (Antinucci) was probably pretty even with me and he got me a lap after the restart just with momentum. After that, he had the same problem I did. He was stuck behind Dillon. Once he pulled out of the draft, I don’t think he had much to pass him. Dillon had the fastest car today. It was probably pretty easy out front for him.”

Joining Battista on the front row of the grid but failing to feature in the final lineup was Australian driver James Davison. Early on Davison was one of three drivers battling for third place behind Battistini and Cunningham however on lap 30 his car’s right-rear tire made contact with the left-front wing of top American driver J.R. Hildebrand’s. Both cars sustained flat tyres and had to pit, effectively eliminating them from challenging in the shootout. Hildebrand, who won the most recent round of the Firestone series at the Kansas Speedway, had advanced to as high as third from the 21st starting position and was the points leader entering the race, but ended up finishing 24th in the 27-car field.

The other two New Zealand drivers in the race, New Plymouth’s Marc Williams and Auckland’s Jonny Reid both finished, Williams – who joined Cunningham in a Royal Spa-sponsored Brian Stewart Racing car for the weekend – crossed the finish line 15th, A1 Team.NZL driver Reid, making his debut in the Firestone Indy Lights Series this weekend, 20th.

The eyes of Kiwi motorsport fans now turn to the main race, the Indianapolis 500, with local hero Scott Dixon starting from pole.

Race Results
1. Dillon Battistini 39.46.9495
2. Richard Antinucci +0.2458
3. Wade Cunningham +5.033
4. Robbie Pecorari +0.7977
5. Ana Beatriz +1.2230
6. Bobby Wilson +1.2699
7. Logan Gomez +2.2543
8. Jeff Simmons +2.9259
9. Andrew Prendeville +3.1449
10. Rapheal Matos +4.0920
also
15. Marc Williams +7.0939
20. Jonny Reid +12.6542