Clerical Medical and Manx Sports Aid Foundation backed 22-year-old Alex Lloyd dominated rounds 2 and 3 of the Indy Pro Series at St Petersburg March 31st and April 1st, making Lloyd the first driver in Indy Pro Series history to record victories in the opening 3 races of the season. source: Alex-Lloyd.com After winning round 1 the week previous on the oval in Homestead, Alex and the Sam Schmidt Motorsports team came to St Petersburg on a high. The weekend started off to perfection with Alex taking pole position on Saturday morning's qualifying session. Race 1 saw Alex dominate, leading all 40 laps on his way to his second straight win. "What a great day", said Lloyd. "To get pole and lead from lights to flag for a comfortable victory is amazing. I can't say enough for the Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Lucas Oil team. 2 from 2 is a great feeling but we have it all to do again tomorrow." Sunday's race saw grid positions decided by the finishing order of race 1, with the top 6 inverted; meaning Alex was to start 6th. With St Petersburg being a tight street course where overtaking is difficult, race 2 was going to be a challenge for Lloyd and the team. As the green flag waved Lloyd made a daring move around the outside of turn 1 to move up to 4th. By lap 2 he was up to 3rd. Lloyd then pounced on a restart to grab second after just a handful of laps completed. By half distance Lloyd was into the lead and never looked back recording his 3rd straight victory. "These 2 weeks have been unbelievable", grinned Lloyd, who has now won 4 of his last 5 starts in the Indy Pro Series. "Coming into the season I hoped we could come away with a couple of wins but 3 is brilliant. With the reverse grid for race 2, it meant I had to work very hard. I needed to find a fine balance between aggression and patience, and I think I found that today. "The team have worked so hard over the winter and the results really show. It is an amazing start to the year but we mustn't forget that there is a long way to go, and a lot of work still to be done." The next race is on Carb day of the Indy 500 on May 25th, where Lloyd will be aiming to match the Indy Pro Series record of 4 straight wins.
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