Tymek Kucharczyk became the latest GB3 graduate to take a victory in the Indy NXT Championship so far this season with a superb performance at the Indianapolis road course last weekend. GB3 graduates fill the top three places in the current Indy NXT standings, with Nikita Johnson currently leading the way.
Kucharczyk had enjoyed a strong start to the season, taking three consecutive podium finishes at St Petersburg, Arlington and Barber Motorsport Park, but a win had eluded him until the second race of the weekend at Indianapolis.
A combative first lap powered him from fifth to the lead within a couple of corners after the start, and despite close attention from Max Taylor, another driver with GB3 experience, he led all 30 laps. His eventual winning margin was six tenths of a second, as he became the first Polish driver to win in the series.
“What a special day,” Kucharczyk said. “To do it here, coming back to November in my first test in an INDY NXT car, now a winner here at Indy, it’s spectacular. I’m so grateful to my sponsors, to my team. It was a tough race. It was really, really hard to hold Max behind me. He was pushing me for the whole race.
“Other than the lockup that I made midway through the race, it was a pretty flawless execution,” Kucharczyk added. “I don’t think we had probably the fastest car on the grid today, but the first lap helped me massively. Max was pushing really hard, so I had to save the Push to Pass at the end, as well. It’s all good. I made it happen, so super, super grateful.”
Kucharczyk's fellow GB3 race winner Johnson currently leads the standings courtesy of wins at St Petersburg and Barber, and two other podium results. The American driver is 11 points clear of Kucharczyk, with Taylor three points further back in third.
Image credit: Penske Entertainment / Chris Jones