Louis Foster took his first Indy Pro 2000 victory in a dominant display on the Indianapolis road course.
Foster, 18, is racing in the US for the first time this year, and finished in the top four in the first four races to start the year which included his first visit to a street course track at St Petersburg in Florida.
His hard work alongside his Exclusive Autosport team to get better at extracting the most from a tyre that is new to him paid dividends with a strong qualifying lap to continue his momentum.
“We’ve been working hard on our qualifying pace, trying to get the most out of the tyre,” said Foster, who is backed by Copart, a global leader in online auto auctions, and Florida-based luxury Italian garden umbrella brand Poggesi.
“I think that worked this weekend. We’ve figured out where I was going wrong and what we need to do better. We got a P2 in qualifying which probably should have been P1 but my rival got a really good tow and did a good job.”
Sadly the weekend took a turn for the worst in the first race, as although Foster took the lead with a brilliant move in Turns 1 and 2, he was clipped into a spin, and then a rival car launched over the back of Foster’s errant machine.
“I have to say thank you to everybody involved with the safety of the cars in the Indy Pro 2000 Series,” added Foster, who was unhurt and able to race again the next day.
Foster looked set to make up ground in race two but contact with another competitor led to a penalty, so the attention turned to race three. He once again went for the lead in the first corner on the first lap from second but backed out of the move after what happened in race one.
His patience was rewarded as Foster made his move around the outside at Turn 1 on lap 3 to grab the lead and check out into the distance.
It was a result that helped Foster negate the loss of points from the first two races of the weekend, but came with the knowledge that so much more could have been achieved over the weekend.
“It was great to get the win, but we realistically should have come away with a minimum of three podiums, and possibly even three wins,” added Foster.
“You could see in race three how strong our race pace was. Bittersweet really, but the pace was there and I have to thank my team and supporters for what they’ve helped us to achieve this year already.
“When you have weekends like this you can only focus on the positives and learn from the negatives.”
Next up for Foster is his first ever race on an oval.
That will also take place in Indianapolis, on the 0.7-mile Lucas Oil Raceway.
“I’m pretty confident going into it,” Foster said.
“Obviously we’ve only tested once there and it will be a totally new thing to race on an oval. But the team is really strong. I think it can go well.
“I’m not expecting to just go out and win but I think a podium is our goal, and getting through the weekend without losing too many championship points to our more experienced rivals.
“I know I have the team behind me to achieve our goals.”
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