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Leist Captures Freedom 100
- Updated: May 26, 2017
Matheus Leist – winner of the 2017 Freedom 100. [Andy Clary Photo]
by Paul Gohde
A year ago, 17-year-old Matheus Leist was winning the British Formula 3 championship in Europe, but today, driving for the Carlin team, Leist dominated the Freedom 100 Indy Lights race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“The car was perfect,” explained the Brazilian driver who led all 40 laps from the pole. “I managed to keep the same line the entire race. I knew Aaron Telitz was closing up on me with a few laps to go but we had the clean air and I just held my own line the whole race.”
Telitz, who started sixth for Belardi Racing in the 14 car field, fell to third after failing to catch Leist, but nipped Dalton Kellett at the finish line for second and felt that he could have won. “We passed most cars early in the race and I was trying to size-up Matheus, but he had less wing and I needed extra downforce since I started back in the pack,” explained the 25-year-old Wisconsin native who was Pro Mazda champion in 2016. “Dalton slid up the track a little in turn four and I got to him at the end. We came here to win and I’m disappointed we didn’t, but we made up some points that we lost when we had problems earlier in the season.”
Kellett, who finished third, had slight contact with Colton Herta during a first lap crash in Turn two involving Herta and Ryan Norman that eliminated both cars.
“I didn’t see the replay (of the crash) yet, I had enough contact that I drove past my crew on the pit wall to see if I had any damage. We had understeer and I spent most of the race trying to get a run on Matheus.”
Rounding-out the first five were Neil Alberico and Santi Urrutia. Leist averaged 163. 883 mph as the race was slowed for four laps due to the first lap crash.
Winning team owner Trevor Carlin, whose team came from England to race here in 2015, was happy to have won today’s Lights race, especially since his rookie driver had never raced on an oval until today’s win. “Now that we won, I’m going to help load the truck, have a few brews and have dinner with the team to celebrate.” And next year? “I want to lift (the bigger) trophy,” said the Brit who obviously has plans beyond Indy Lights.” We think he means the Borg Warner trophy.
Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.
Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.
The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.
Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.
He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.
Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”