Ed Jones showcased his fighting spirit in the 2018 IndyCar Series curtain-raiser around the Streets of St. Petersburg in Florida, battling back from a difficult qualifying session to score a top-eight finish on his Chip Ganassi Racing debut.

The talented Dubai, UAE-born ace – last season’s ‘Rookie of the Year’ – has switched camps to powerhouse Ganassi for his sophomore campaign at the pinnacle of US open-wheel competition.

With limited testing opportunities for the 24 high-calibre contenders to get to grips with this year’s new-look car – incorporating a universal aero kit that generates significantly less downforce than its predecessor and consequently reduced cornering stability – the first of 17 races on the calendar represented something of a leap into the unknown. His strong finish – just two places behind four-time champion team-mate Scott Dixon – at the weekend was earned from a distant 17th on the grid.

“We got off to a tough start in practice, but it was the same for everyone with the 2018-spec car,” Jones reflected. “I think we all probably had less grip than we’d anticipated.

“That’s a new challenge, but one I’m certainly up for.

“After struggling a bit on Saturday morning, we reverted to what we had run on Friday and I felt more comfortable in qualifying, but we just missed out on advancing to the next phase by a fraction of a second after a car came out of the pits in front of us and deterred our progress.

“That was obviously frustrating, but we had a great first lap on Sunday and made up a lot of early ground. As a team, I think we were smart all day and drove a very solid race.

“You always go back and look at some things you may have been able to do better, but all aspects considered, I think my first race with Ganassi went well.

“It’s been an exciting start to the season, and now I can’t wait for Phoenix.”

Undaunted, the 2016 Indy Lights champion went immediately on the attack when the green flag flew, gaining seven positions over the course of a superb opening lap.

Along the way, Jones indulged in wheel-to-wheel scraps with the likes of reigning champion Josef Newgarden.

Carefully managing his fading tyres and the gap to his chasing Team Penske rival, Jones was maintaining a consistently strong pace and had the situation firmly under control until a brace of late safety car interventions narrowed his advantage to next-to-nothing.

But he survived the drama to finish eighth. Round two at the Phoenix Grand Prix comes under the floodlights at Arizona’s ISM Raceway on April 7.