Saavedra within 10 points of Firestone Indy Lights lead

Sebastian Saavedra earned his third podium finish of the season May 31 in the Husar's House of Fine Diamond 100 Firestone Indy Lights race. A third-place finish keeps him within 10 points of AFS Racing/Andretti Green teammate J.R. Hildebrand for the points lead.

Sebastian Saavedra Credit: Ron McQueeny/Indy Lights

The young Colombian put himself behind on the weekend when he hit the wall on his first lap of practice on Saturday and fought back to the front from there.

"For sure it was a great day," said Saavedra, who finished second at St. Petersburg 2 and won at Kansas. "Since the start of the weekend, we knew that many good cars, many good drivers were into this Milwaukee Mile. Since the beginning, we knew it was going to be a conservative race. Gain points for the championship is for sure the main thing we're looking for."

Saavedra, who started fourth in the 100-lap race found himself deep in the back early in the event. He was following Jonathan Summerton on a Lap 5 restart when Summerton spun off of Turn 4.

"I was not very lucky in the first restart where Summerton spun in front of me, making me lose about five or six positions," Saavedra said. "That took me out right away in the battle for the win. I just kept calm. We knew AFS/AGR did a great job with the setup itself. I just saved the tires for the last 20 laps."

That last 20 laps featured a close battle with James Davison, James Hinchcliffe and Gustavo Yacaman.

"After I knew the race was going to already start opening itself, I just start passing (them) one by one with like a very conservative way and gain points for the championship." he said. "In that position, it was risking almost as much as I didn't do during the whole race."

Saavedra, who has started in the top four in five of the six races, will have his next chance to challenge Hildebrand for the points lead June 20 at Iowa Speedway.

Print This Page	Go back to the previous page