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Motorsport
Charles Bradley

Indy NXT Detroit: Agony then joy for Siegel, as Gold wins R1

Siegel held a five-second lead on the final lap of Saturday’s race but snapped a halfshaft on the exit of Turn 7 of the last lap, allowing Gold – who he’d passed with a brilliant move six laps earlier – to cruise past and inherit the victory by 0.2974s.

Jagger Jones, the grandson of the legendary Parnelli, chased Gold across the line while Ernie Francis Jr made an amazing comeback from recent wrist surgery to claim third, the first Haitian-American driver to make the podium in an IndyCar development series.

The top three were covered by half a second, while the crippled car of Siegel limped across the line in eighth.

Polewinner Louis Foster didn’t make the first corner, after Andretti Autosport team-mate Hunter McElrea rear-ended him into the wall as soon as the Briton touched the brakes. McElrea was given a stop-and-go penalty but had the time to rebound through the field to finish seventh.

Points leader Christian Rasmussen’s tough weekend, which started badly with electrical problems in practice, continued when he broke his front wing at the first corner. He rallied to finish ninth, enough to keep the championship lead over Siegel.

Indy NXT Detroit Race 1 results

Pos Driver  Entrant   Laps Time Gap/Retirement 
1 10  Reece Gold HMD Motorsports 45 55'54.2862  
2 98  Jagger Jones Cape Motorsports 45 55'54.5836 0.2974
3 99  E.Francis Jr. HMD Motorsports 45 55'54.8031 0.5169
4 51  Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 45 55'57.7877 3.5015
5 47  Enaam Ahmed Cape Motorsports 45 55'58.5059 4.2197
6 Christian Bogle HMD Motorsports 45 55'59.6635 5.3773
7 27  Hunter McElrea Andretti Autosport 45 55'59.9870 5.7008
8 39  Nolan Siegel HMD Motorsports 45 56'01.3523 7.0661
9 C.Rasmussen HMD Motorsports 45 56'03.9317 9.6455
10 29  James Roe Andretti Autosport 45 56'07.2435 12.9573
11 28  Jamie Chadwick Andretti Autosport 45 56'07.8244 13.5382
12 76  Rasmus Lindh Juncos Hollinger Racing 45 56'08.6061 14.3199
13 21  Kyffin Simpson HMD Motorsports 45 56'09.1006 14.8144
14 75  Matteo Nannini Juncos Hollinger Racing 45 56'10.4520 16.1658
15 Josh Green HMD Motorsports 40 55'04.0444 Mechanical
16 57  Colin Kaminsky Abel Motorsports 39 56'18.5723 6 laps /24.2861
17 14  Toby Sowery HMD Motorsports 30 55'09.7314 Mechanical
18 68  Danial Frost HMD Motorsports 21 27'04.0014 Contact
19 26  Louis Foster Andretti Autosport 0 - Contact

In Sunday's race, early leaders Foster and Rasmussen ran way too deep into the first corner, allowing Siegel to jump out in the lead.

Foster and Rasmussen banged wheels on the second lap too, with Rasmussen barging into second, with McElrea running fourth ahead of Francis – but the latter had to pit for a new front wing.

Jones crashed heavily at Turn 2, to bring out the first caution, and another was required late on when Kyffin Simpson nosed into the wall at Turn 9. That created a two-lap shootout to decide the race.

Siegel held his nerve to make it five winners in five races, beating Rasmussen, Foster and McElrea. Francis starred again by driving from last to seventh.

The win puts Siegel within two points of championship leader Rasmussen.

Indy NXT Detroit Race 2 results

Cla Driver  Entrant   Laps  Time   Gap 
39 Nolan Siegel HMD Motorsports 45 55'51.8030  
6 C.Rasmussen HMD Motorsports 45 55'52.4589 0.6559
26 Louis Foster Andretti Autosport 45 55'53.2271 1.4241
27 Hunter McElrea Andretti Autosport 45 55'53.7856 1.9826
68 Danial Frost HMD Motorsports 45 55'54.1048 2.3018
29 James Roe Andretti Autosport 45 55'55.1235 3.3205
99 E.Francis Jr. HMD Motorsports 45 55'55.4337 3.6307
57 Colin Kaminsky Abel Motorsports 45 55'57.0501 5.2471
51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 45 55'58.0804 6.2774
10  47 Enaam Ahmed Cape Motorsports 45 55'58.7157 6.9127
11  75 Matteo Nannini Juncos Hollinger Racing 45 55'59.0709 7.2679
12  10 Reece Gold HMD Motorsports 45 55'59.4816 7.6786
13  14 Toby Sowery HMD Motorsports 45 55'59.9154 8.1124
14  76 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Hollinger Racing 45 56'00.2865 8.4835
15  7 Christian Bogle HMD Motorsports 44 56'02.2513  
16  28 Jamie Chadwick Andretti Autosport 40 56'03.4418  
17  21 Kyffin Simpson HMD Motorsports 33 44'58.0981  
18  3 Josh Green HMD Motorsports 30 56'01.5386  
19  98 Jagger Jones Cape Motorsports 14 16'45.7372
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