Reigning Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) champion Linus Lundqvist is getting closer to making his NTT IndyCar Series race debut.
The 24-year-old Swede captured five wins, seven poles, and nine podiums last year on the way to claiming the title with HMD Motorsports, and has conducted IndyCar tests on an oval with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and a road course with Ed Carpenter Racing this season in preparation for any opportunities that might arise.
Although he wouldn’t be drawn on the team in question, Lundqvist says he’s targeting the last few IndyCar rounds to make his series debut.
“The last last two or three weeks, I’ve been back in Sweden and I did a Porsche Carrera Cup race, which was pretty fun, but it actually occurred to me that this was my first race of the whole year, which is insane to think about,” Lundqvist told RACER. “But it was nice to be back on track and I got a podium in my first race, so I was happy with that and it just motivates me even more to get racing in IndyCar.
“There is a good chance that I’ll be in one, two, possibly even three races before the end of the year. That’s at least what I’m working towards. I’m just waiting for a contract to be sent over and badly want to be on track soon.”
If the deal comes together, Lundqvist could be in the seat for the World Wide Technology Raceway oval and at least one of the road courses at Portland and Laguna Seca.