HMD Motorsports’ David Malukas grabs third Indy Lights pole of the season

HMD Motorsports Indy Lights pilot David Malukas focused at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

The second half-hour Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires qualifying session of the weekend got started under sunny skies with an ambient temperature of 58F and a track temperature of 77F. That was 13 degrees warmer than the start of the Indy Pro 2000 race only an hour ago.

After the first ten minutes of running, Toby Sowery was the provisional pole sitter with a lap timed at 75.7835 seconds. Linus Lundqvist, David Malukas, Sting Ray Robb, and Alex Peroni were in the top five and all within a half-second of Sowery’s quickest lap. All 13 drivers had completed either five or six laps.

At the halfway point of the 30-minute session, pit road was busy with drivers bolting on fresh rubber.

The first driver to improve on the fresh Cooper Tires and grab the provisional pole was Lundqvist, but the timing screens started to light up with green as the tires reached their optimal operating temperature.

Lundqvist, Friday’s winner, didn’t hold the provisional pole long. His teammate Malukas, on his 15th of 17th laps, went nine-hundredths quicker than his teammate, taking his third Indy Lights pole and seventh on the Road To Indy.

Indy Lights Race #2 qualifying results