Ed Jones managed to salvage a third place from a crazy Indy Lights race around the wet streets of Toronto today, while team mate Nelson Piquet Jr was once again taken out of the race after contact from behind. Despite a spin on the opening lap and two pit stops for new front wings, Jones continued in a race of resilience to take the final step on the podium. 

After setting the fastest lap of the race yesterday, Jones had elevated himself from seventh on the grid to second, with Piquet starting from fourth. Just as the drivers lined up in the pit lane in starting positions this morning though, the rain started to fall until wet Cooper Tires were the only option. 

As the drivers readied themselves for the rolling start Jones looked to be in a good position, but pushing hard ready to challenge leader Spencer Pigot out of the last corner, Jones spun on the slippery track surface and was suddenly faced with the rest of the field heading towards him. Team mate Piquet was first to avoid him with the rest of the field also missing the number 11 car, allowing Jones to re-join the back of the field.

Piquet who was now third, had a quick closing Harvey behind him. Focusing on not damaging his car in the treacherous conditions, Piquet was playing it safe at the start of the 60 minute race with Harvey making his way through in the spray. 

By lap five, Piquet was running in fifth with Jones already improving a couple of positions to eighth. The British racer was in the pits next lap round though, needing a new front wing after just making contact with the walls. The Carlin man wasted little time as the field circulated under a full yellow and was once again able to re-join. 

On the attempted restart third placed RC Enerson spun, forcing the field to complete another lap behind the pace car. At the restart it was single file only with Piquet running in fourth and Jones now seventh. A spin for Felix Serralles however put Piquet up into a podium spot and by lap 16 the Brazilian was the fastest driver on track and catching second placed Harvey. 

As Piquet began to put pressure on Harvey, Jones was running close on track with Juan Piedrahita, the two making contact which left the Carlin man needed to pit once more for a new front wing. Having made his second pit stop, Jones re-joined again. 

Having been taken out of the race while leading yesterday, Piquet was looking good for a podium finish, running in third with Kyle Kaiser behind him. Kaiser missed his breaking point though and once again through no fault of his own, Piquet received heavy impact to the back of his car which put him out of the race. 

With both Piquet and Kaiser now out, Jones was remarkably up to third place and in a relatively quiet end to the race, held onto the position to the chequered flag, which came early due to the difficult conditions. 

Speaking about his race Jones said, “Another difficult race because of the conditions and I made a mistake on the first lap which obviously could have cost us a lot more than it did in the end. But we kept fighting back. The team had to change two noses so a really good job by them and to come away with a podium is more than we could have hoped for really after the start.” 

Piquet Jr added, “It was a good experience for me to be back in a powerful car; conditions were very difficult but I enjoyed the challenge. The car was good in both races, we had a good chance of winning both of them. It’s just bad luck the way it ended but at least we showed good potential. It’s been good preparation for me for the Formula E finale in London in a couple of weeks. If I had another chance I’d do it again for sure.”