CUNNINGHAM FIGHTS BACK TO CLAIM SECOND AT ST PETE
New Zealand racing driver Wade Cunningham fought back from a last lap, last corner incident in the first race to finish a fighting second behind Alex Lloyd in the second Indy Pro Series race at St Petersburg in Florida on Sunday.
Cunningham started the 40 lap race from P9 on the grid but took advantage of the four caution periods in the incident-marred race to work his way up to second.
"It was a struggle," he said, "but we were really strong on brakes and on the re-starts today."
Pole winner Alex Lloyd from Great Britain ended up winning both races at the double-header second & third 2007 Indy Pro Series round but Cunningham got within two seconds of him in the second race and was set to challenge for the lead when the yellow flags came out for a fourth, then a fifth time.
"The race - in fact the whole weekend - was like that," said Cunningham. "Really scrappy. From the second practice session and including both qualifying sessions I only got three clear green flag laps in. People were making mistakes all over the place."
It was someone else's mistake in fact which cost Cunningham sixth place in the first race of the weekend on Saturday.
"I was sixth going into the last corner on the last lap and I just got drilled," he said. "It was ridiculous."
The young Kiwi was able to get going again and finish ninth but had he finished sixth he would have got to start Sunday's race from pole because the starting order for that race was the top six finishing order of the first race reversed.
The weekend's two IPS races were the second and third of 16 this season. There is now a gap of over a month a half before the fourth round of the series at the Indianapolis Moor Speedway.
Between the two events Cunningham will remain in the United States and test at several circuits.
