New Zealand driver Wade Cunningham was left fuming after a penalty for a jump start cost him a chance of winning the opening round of the Indy Pro Series (IPS) race at the Homestead-Miami oval in Florida this morning.
The defending champion from Auckland, who finished 10th, and fellow second
row starter Jaime Camara, were both black flagged early in the race after being judged to have jumped the rolling start. Both had to serve drive-through penalties.
This effectively ruined their races and the pair finished a lap down on winner Jeff Simmons.
"If we did (jump the start) it was by thousandths of a second," he said. "It certainly wasn't enough to be visible to the naked eye," an unhappy Cunningham said.
The trouble started when the field was given the green light.
Front row starters, series rookies Jay Howard and Jonathan Klein, were slow away and were quickly swallowed up by Camara and Cunningham from the second row, and the rest of the field.
Unfortunately, because they were the first pair to pass Howard and Klein, Camara and Cunningham were fingered for jumping the start.
Cunningham was able to make up most of the deficit on the road, but was told by race officials to hold position -- and not try and unlap himself -- after a yellow flag caution period late in the race.
The race was won by veteran American Jeff Simmons, the 2005 series runner-up.
Fellow countrymen Nick Bussell was second with Howard third.
Christchurch's Mathew Hamilton crossed the line in 14th position in his IPS debut.
- NZPA
