Dubai’s Ed Jones makes it an Indy Lights season-opening hat-trick with win at Grand Prix of Long Beach

Dubai born Ed Jones won his third race out of three to begin the Indy Lights series in the US on Sunday, with the Carlin driver extending his championship lead to 26 points.

Ed Jones has won all three races to begin the 2015 Indy Lights series. Photo Courtesy / EJ Racing

Dubai born and based Ed Jones won the street-circuit Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, his third win from all three Indy Lights series races this year.

Briton Jones now has a 26-point advantage at the top of the driver standings in Indy Lights, the second-tier competition under the primarily North American IndyCar series.

Driving for Carlin, Jones – who began his career in the UAE karting scene – had already won the back-to-back opening races in St Petersburg, Florida before making it a hat-trick of season-opening wins on Sunday in California.

Jones passed second-place finisher Felix Serralles after a restart following a crash and subsequent yellow flag at the start and never looked back.

“I knew it was going to be a bit hectic at the start,” he said in a press release, “because the temperatures were cold, the tires were cold.

“I didn’t get the best start and dropped back to fifth. But then I saw the collision happening up front, so I braked a little bit earlier, took the inside and got around to the left.

“I got around Felix on the restart and we had a good battle the next few laps.”

Jones added that while “we struggled with pace this weekend” driving a mistake-free race cleared the way to victory.

“It’s hard, because if you’re too conservative, you’ll get caught. It was difficult; I risked it a bit but fortunately, I didn’t make any mistakes and that’s what kept me the lead.

“We didn’t have the fastest car so to come away with the win is fantastic.”

Jones will look to consolidate his Indy Lights supremacy in Rounds 4 and 5, both outside Birmingham, Alabama at the Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds.

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