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With ten wins from eleven races, Linus Lundqvist has opened up a significant lead in the chase for the 2020 Formula Regional Americas title. This weekend will hand the Swede a first opportunity to seal the championship prematurely in the penultimate round of the season at Homestead Miami Speedway – but Lundqvist is refuting any ideas of playing the safe game.
“I would lie if I said it hasn’t crossed my mind, and it would be fantastic to seal the title this weekend, but it’s really not something I’m focusing on,” says Linus Lundqvist. “I still want to win every race one by one, and I will take exactly the same approach into this weekend as I have done in previous races.”
Lundqvist arrives at Homestead fresh from an imposing double win in Sebring last weekend. The 21-year-old Global Racing Group driver has set the pace consistently throughout the 2020 campaign; his rookie year on the American motor racing scene.
Heading to Homestead, Lundqvist carries an 84-point lead in the championship over nearest rival David Malukas. With a maximum 75 points up for grabs at each championship round (three races, 25 points per win), Malukas needs to reduce Lundqvist’s advantage by at least ten points this weekend if he is to take the title fight down to the wire in the Texas finale.
It is far from a sealed deal, however, with a number of uncertainties facing Lundqvist in the south of Florida.
First, Homestead Miami Speedway is the only track on this year’s FR Americas calendar to never previously have featured in the championship, leaving the teams with plenty of unknowns as they start to fine-tune their Ligier-built cars.
Furthermore, the Homestead “roval” – a road course laid out on the infield of the track’s oval layout – is a popular testing venue for Indy Lights teams, which includes Malukas’ HMD Motorsports operation. HMD and Malukas were on site as recently as March, while Lundqvist has never sat foot at the facility.
Added to that, further complexity could be provided by fickle weather forecasts, suggesting heavy rain for parts of the weekend.
“There are some special circumstances this weekend, the first time the championship is racing at Homestead and all of that,” Linus Lundqvist concludes. “At the end of the day, though, it’s been the same story everywhere for me this year: another new track to try and learn. I’m getting used to it, and we also have an extra promoter test day on Thursday. The team has given me a fast car everywhere we’ve gone this season, and I don’t doubt we will find our way again at Homestead.”
Following the pre-event test day on Thursday, the penultimate round of the season officially launches with two free practice sessions on Friday. Qualifying and Race 1 of the weekend take place on Saturday, with the final two races staged on Sunday.
Live streaming is available at https://fanracing.live for all races of the season. There is also a dedicated "Race Centre" portal at www.linuslundqvistracing.se, featuring the live streaming links as well as timing details, the latest results and more.
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