Still No Luck For Cunningham

FAST COMPANY
Press release
For immediate release

* Wade Cunningham
2009 Firestone Indy Lights Championship Series
Rnd 3
Long Beach
California
Sat-Sun
April 18-19
2009

20-04-09

ROUND REVIEW

Still No Luck For Cunningham On Firestone Indy Lights Series Return

Luck continued to elude New Zealand driver Wade Cunningham on his full-time return to the Firestone Indy championship, the 24-year-old struggling with handling issues in qualifying before an early end to his race when an alternator bracket broke at the third round at Long Beach early Monday morning NZ time.

Former World Karting champion Cunningham won the Firestone Indy Lights title in 2005 and remained a front-runner in the series in 2006 and 2007 before a partial programme while he concentrated on securing an Indycar series drive last year.

His full-time return this year with the series' most successful team, Sam Schmidt Motorpsorts, in the celebrated #11 Lucas Oils car, was much anticipated but food poisoning scuppered his chances at the double-header first and second rounds at St Petersburg in Florida a fortnight ago and though now back to 100% fitness for this weekend's meeting he fared no better at Long Beach.

Braking issues exacerbated by the bumpy nature of the converted street course held Cunningham back in practice and qualifying leaving the former series champ in 15th place on the grid and though the handling problems were largely identified and fixed for the 45 lap race this morning the young Kiwi only got as far as 11th place before the alternator bracket on his car's engine broke.

Not quite the start he was looking for on his fulltime return to the series but all is not - quite - lost yet.

Next weekend is the first of four series rounds on ovals, circuits where the Sam Schmidt Motorsports cars have traditionally been strongest.

This morning's race was dominated by pole sitter JR Hildebrand who won from Richard Philippe and James Hinchcliffe.

Points-wise rookie Dutch driver Junior Strous, who was an early retirement from the race when his car caught fire, continues to lead the points standings from Jonathan Summerton and JR Hildebrand.

Cunningham is 16th, 64 points behind Strous.

2009 Firestone Indy Lights Championship
CALENDAR
Rnds 1 & 2: April 4-5 St Petersburg (street doubleheader)
Rnd 3: April 19 Long Beach (street)
Rnd 4: April 26 Kansas (oval)
Rnd 5: May 22 Indianapolis (oval)
Rnd 6: May 31: Milwaukee (oval)
Rnd 7: June 20 Iowa (oval)
Rnd 8 July 4 Watkins Glen (road)
Rnd 9: July 11 Toronto (street)
Rnd 10: July 25 Rexall (oval)
Rnd 11: August 01 Kentucky (oval)
Rnd 12: August 09 Mid-Ohio (road)
Rnd 13: August 23 Infineon (road)
Rnd 14: August 29 Chicagoland (oval)
Rnd 15: October 09 Homestead (oval)

ENDS

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