Motorsport: Cunningham second in Kansas

New Zealand driver Wade Cunningham qualified on pole and finished second in the fourth round of the Indy Lights championship in Kansas this morning (NZ time).

A series champion in his rookie year in 2005, Cunningham was a close second today to Colombian Sebastien Savedra.

The former world karting champion was immediately on the pace in practice then only eventual race winner Saavedra could get close in qualifying, with Cunningham claiming his eighth career pole at the high speed 2.4km oval.

He led through the first 10 laps before being passed by Saavedra on the first restart.

Teammate Ana Beatriz briefly pushed Cunningham back to third place on lap 41 but lost the advantage when she tried to pass Saavedra for the lead.

"We're disappointed not to get the win after qualifying on the pole but looking at the high downforce lap times in practice and then looking at the race, we just didn't have the strongest car today," Cunningham said.

"Sebastian was able to run the pace he wanted. No one else could get around him. I tried my best more than once, but I just couldn't get the pass completed on the outside when we were running two-wide, especially with the way the wind worked and the gearing."

The result elevates Cunningham to 11th place overall on 84 points, just 46 behind new leader Jonathan Summerton of the United States.

- NZPA