Ilott takes a starring role in Road America qualifying

PREMA Racing is having one heck of a month.

Robert Shwartzman earned pole position at the Indianapolis 500, went on to earn a career-best 10th place finish last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, and now teammate Callum Ilott, who led late at WWTR, produced the team’s best road course qualifying result with ninth at Road America in the No. 90 Chevy.

For a squad that completed its debut IndyCar race on March 1, PREMA is starting to show that it isn’t following the longer timeline that’s required for most new teams to find their footing in a major new series.

“The car was good; we improved a lot since FP2,” Ilott said. “It was great to be third in our group. The first run in the Fast 12 was not so good; the tires were quite used and just didn't have a good feeling or rhythm. On the second run we put the new tires on, it felt really good on the first lap, but unfortunately everyone else backed up in front and I didn't get to complete it. I think it would have been a Fast Six lap. On the last lap the tires are gone a little bit, so we’re P9 which is the first top 10 start for the No. 90 car and everything feels pretty good for tomorrow.”