Carbone Finds Indy Lights Podium
Baltimore, MD – Indy Lights rookie Victor Carbone scored his first podium with a third place drive on the streets of Baltimore in the #3 Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry. Carbone, the 2010 F2000 Series Champion for Alegra Motorsports, drove a patient race and survived on a bumpy 12-turn street course to stand with the top three before a capacity crowd.
“It was one of the hardest races of my career,” said Carbone. “The track was extremely physical and my radio didn’t work for the entire race.
“I drove consistently and made sure I didn’t make any mistakes,” continued the 18-year-old Brazilian. “The team did an awesome job with the car, but the key for this race was patience.”
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Carbone made his way up to fourth after starting seventh, but fell back midway through the race before climbing back up the order again, passing cars and capitalizing on mistakes of the leaders.
“The track is a driver’s track. I was expecting some mistakes from the other drivers, but not that many,” he added.
Carbone made a massive leap, going from the F2000 Series, where he dominated the 2010 season, to the Indy Lights grid.
“I am adjusting to the car more and more,” he explained. “This year, I have a huge learning curve, but having really fast teammates helps too.”
With two races to go in the Indy Lights Championship for 2011, Carbone sits seventh in the points standings, just five points behind 2008 F2000 Championship Series Champion Anders Krohn.
The inaugural event in Baltimore was a huge hit for the IndyCar Series, with a capacity crowd with some estimates putting three-day attendance north of the 150,000 mark. Grandstands were full and more looked on from general admission areas and from office building rooftops in downtown Baltimore. The track snaked around Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the Baltimore Inner Harbor.