Jaden Lander was back in action this past weekend with the Krugspeed racing team in the Mazda MX-05 for the 2023 Hoosier Super Tour at Watkins Glen.
The race weekend began with two qualifying sessions on Friday around the 3.3-mile track. In the first session of the day, Lander could not put a time in due to a faulty transponder in the car, requiring him to rely on his second session time. Lander didn’t let the problem affect him and, in the second session of the day, put in a good enough time to start second on the grid.
In the first race of the weekend, Lander started in second and was immediately able to pass for the lead on the opening lap. Lander was passed while avoiding contact just before a full-course yellow bunched up the field. On the restart, Lander made a pass for the lead on turn six and held on for the race win. A fantastic result for it being the first time Lander had been in the MX-5 since a thumb injury in January.
In the weekend’s second race, Lander replicated his start of the previous race by again taking the lead on the opening lap. Unfortunately, Lander got caught up in traffic later in the race, leading to him being passed for the lead. For the remainder of the race, Lander successfully defended his position to finish the weekend on the podium again.
“This was an awesome weekend! These results were awesome for the whole team, especially after our previous weekend at COTA… Getting back into the Mazda MX-5 was fun, which I have not driven since my thumb injury in January. Big thank you to Hoosier, Mazda Motorsports, and Krugspeed for making this weekend possible!”