Nikita Lastochkin Gaining More Experience with Each Passing Event
Taking on the toughest Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires grid in quite some time, Russian born American driver Nikita Lastochkin is enjoying his rookie season. Competing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past weekend for rounds five and six, Lastochkin left the hallowed grounds of IMS with knowledge and experience that he will utilize in the future.
“I really love the HMD Motorsports program,” expressed Lastochkin. “I am working hard to continually improve but they are making it easier for me. This is the first time in my racing career that I have had a driver coach in Luke Varley, and we get along well. Luke is patient with me and has a calm voice when the going gets tough. I have a dedicated engineer and some fast teammates, so I have the perfect recipe to achieve success and learn.”
Scoring his best result of the short 2021 season at the difficult Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Lastochkin was hoping to continue that performance at Indy. Putting the most recent event weekend behind him, Lastochkin is looking forward to Detroit, Road America and the rest of the 2021 season.
“I have never been a driver who has been able to do much testing but that is going to change next week,” added Nikita. “I will join the team at two test days, Road America and Mid-Ohio, to hopefully get a jump start on these events. I have raced at both tracks in the past, but never in an Indy Lights car so I am looking forward to it. I was able to join HMD Motorsports at Laguna Seca earlier in the year so that will be three tracks that we have future events at which increases my confidence. I am not sure what the future holds for me, so I really want to capitalize on the rest of 2021 and start building a program for 2022.”
With a few weeks off, Lastochkin will join HMD Motorsports on May 24 at Road America and June 7 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course before taking on the Detroit Grand Prix June 11-13.