Carlin’s Max Chilton took pole position and shattered the Indy Lights track record in the final qualifying session of the season today in his newly liveried Skylanders SuperChargers car. The British racer, was quickest in practice yesterday, took double pole position while team mate Ed Jones qualified fourth and stays well in contention for the 2015 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires title.

An early qualifying session for the Indy Lights drivers this morning took place at a cool and misty Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In a tight four way fight for the championship title, Jones showed his intent setting the quickest time five minutes into qualifying, before pitting for new Cooper Tires. Chilton was also building up the place, climbing to second before also pitting for new rubber.

At the half way point, several drivers had improved their times, with Jones second and Chilton now eighth. Jones was soon to make good use of his new Cooper Tires though, going P1 with 14 minutes still to go. It was Chilton though who took P1 a few minutes later, also becoming the first driver to beat the existing track record set by Tony Kanaan in 1997. With 10 minutes remaining it was a Carlin 1-2 with Chilton on provisional pole ahead of Jones.

As the session entered the final minutes, Juncos racers Kyle Kaiser and Spencer Pigot improved, both temporarily claiming P1 before Chilton came back with a 1.14.828 to shatter the lap record with a time that would be unbeaten for the remainder of the session.   Jones had done enough to claim fourth at the chequered flag, one place behind championship rival Pigot and one in front of championship leader Jack Harvey.

Speaking about his pole position, Chilton said, “We had a goal before the session to take double pole so I’m pleased we were able to do that. I haven’t done the whole season so I’m not in contention for the championship so I’ve got nothing to lose, I just want to finish the season on a high with two more race wins. This is an awesome track though, I love it, and it’s testament to the team to come to another new track for them and be quick from the outset.”

Jones added, “I’m a little disappointed not to be on the front row as I think that was possible but we’re still in contention in fourth place. I think there’s just one corner where I’m losing some time, but overall the pace we have is good and I’m looking forward to the races. There isn’t really a lot to lose, so we’re just going into it giving the maximum.”

The penultimate race of the season will take place at 3.45pm local time.