Phoenix: Dubai-born Ed Jones was up to second with 40 laps remaining before contact with the wall saw him finish 20th in race two of the Indy Car series at the ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday.
It followed an eighth-place finish on his Chip Ganassi Racing debut in the opening race of the 17-stage season in St Petersburg, Florida, last month (after starting from 17th on the grid there) and now leaves him 13th out of 27 drivers in the standings after two races.
The 23-year-old Englishman finished 14th overall last season with Dale Coyne Racing winning Rookie of the Year with a best finish of third in the iconic Indy 500 race. That earned him a move to top-two side Ganassi, where he is now expected to excel.
“It had been almost a month since St. Pete, so I was excited to be back in the car for Phoenix,” said Jones, who started from 11th on the grid after qualifying.
“We had a great test there earlier in the year where our car had been really strong, and I was looking forward to seeing how everything would work out racing under the lights in oval trim.
“In first practice, the track was really slippery. We encountered a bit of traffic on our mock qualifying runs, but it wasn’t terrible. I was happy overall to that point, but in qualifying we didn’t have an ideal run. My front bar in the car did something odd and I couldn’t make the adjustments I needed to, which made it really hard to attack and left us a bit behind the curve.”
Despite that, in the race he fought his way into the top 10 and then moved up to fifth and second after well executed pit stops. Unfortunately with 29 laps to go and after reporting the car was beginning to feel loose, the former European F3 Open Champion made contact with the outside wall while negotiating a backmarker.
This uncharacteristic error sent him back to 20th but he is already plotting his comeback in round three of the series at Long Beach, California, this Sunday, April 15.
“Phoenix was a long, very challenging race, as we had fully anticipated, but the car actually handled a little better than expected, tyre degradation wasn’t too bad and the crew gave myself and [teammate] Scott Dixon the best pit-stops in the field, which allowed us to gain ground. Every time we came in, we made up positions.
“We were having a great run in second and I was just trying not to take any risks, but then with barely 20 laps to go, I turned into the corner and the car went straight up into the wall — there was nothing I could do to save it. It was a big hit, and super frustrating because the car was amazingly quick.
“On the one hand, I’m obviously upset with the mistake I made, but on the other hand, it was great for myself and the team to be fighting for the win in only our second race together. That gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the season, and I’m looking forward to making further improvements at Long Beach.”
