Felix Rosenqvist entered this week’s two day Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires test a relative unknown stateside, but after his performance in the Belardi Auto Racing Dallara IL-15 many will know the name of the speedy Swede. Rosenqvist was second quick in the first day of testing, but was able to best sophomore Carlin Racing driver Ed Jones and Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires champion Santiago Urrutia on day two with a lap of 1:14.4371 set in the morning session.

Rosenqvist set the fastest lap in both sessions on the day for Belardi, besting Jones and Urrutia in the morning session by 0.2533 seconds while turning 54 laps. The morning session was run under an early threat of rain, but the ominous clouds never made their way south to affect the conditions at 2.21-mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway road course. In the afternoon, it was another 45 productive laps for Rosenqvist, as he was just able to nip Urrutia by 0.0011 seconds for fastest time right at the end of the session, while Jones settled for third.

“We went through a basic program the past two days,” said reigning FIA European Formula 3 champion Rosenqvist. “We tried to do as many things as possible and the team had a plan they wanted to go through. We were quite strong at the end of the day yesterday and things ran smoothly today. We were first in both sessions, which doesn’t mean a lot now, but it’s a good indication of where I am if I do the series. It’s also good for the team to be able to try a lot of things. I have a lot of experience in formula cars so I hope they were happy with my feedback. They’re a great bunch of guys and Zach [Veach] is a really nice guy. He has the same attitude as I do: we are both the kind of drivers who like to help each other as teammates. He wants the best for the whole team not just for himself. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but Indy Lights is definitely one of the things I’m targeting for 2016.”

Urrutia, who has yet to confirm his plans for 2016, turned in a strong showing in the #77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry, regular featuring at the top of the timesheets over the course of the two days. SPM is expected to confirm that Urrutia will bring his $650,000 Mazda Road to Indy scholarship prize to the team in the coming days, but Urrutia was clearly out to impress his prospective employers.

“I really like the Indy Lights car,” said Urrutia. “We worked a lot these two days and I’m very happy with how things went. I have a good feeling with the car and with the team. They've done a great job. We were P1 for a while on new tires today but Rosenqvist was a little bit quicker than us. Everything is different from the Pro Mazda car because everything happens more quickly, but I had a good feeling from the beginning. That has helped me to be quick from the start. I tested with the team last year, so I’m very comfortable. There’s a lot to learn but I’m happy with what I’m doing right now and hope to continue to improve. It’s a good way to start the season. I’m looking forward to the next test at Phoenix – that will be my first time on an oval in this car and it’s important because we’re going to race there.”

Ed Jones’ new teammate at Carlin Racing, sophomore Felix Serralles, was fourth quickest overall at the test, just ahead of fellow sophomore RC Enerson of SPM. Two more sophomore drivers, Kyle Kaiser of Juncos Racing and Shelby Blackstock of Andretti Autosport, followed Enerson in sixth and seventh. It may look surprising to see Indy Lights veteran and series returnee Zach Veach way down in eighth, but Veach was tasked with testing development parts for the series during the second day and was further off the pace of his rookie teammate than would otherwise be expected. Trailing Veach were a trio of rookies, Zachary Claman De Melo of Juncos, Neil Alberico of Carlin, and Dalton Kellett of Andretti, who turned 174 laps over the two days, level with Veach for most laps run.

The next official test for Indy Lights will occur on February 25th on the Phoenix International Raceway oval.

Combined Test Results from Homestead-Miami Speedway

1. Felix Rosenqvist
2. Santiago Urrutia
3. Ed Jones
4. Felix Serralles
5. RC Enerson
6. Kyle Kaiser
7. Shelby Blackstock
8. Zach Veach
9. Zachary Claman De Melo
10. Neil Alberico
11. Dalton Kellett