LEXINGTON, Ohio – Rinus VeeKay has reclaimed the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires points lead after winning Rounds 12 and 13 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, completing the weekend sweep and taking his 2018 season win tally to a total of six.

The 17-year-old KNAF Talent First driver from Hoofddorp, Netherlands now has a 31-point advantage as the series travels to the 1.5-mile oval, Gateway Motorsports Park, for the penultimate round of the 2018 season.

 “We won both races, I’m super happy,” said the Pro Mazda rookie who finished second in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda last year. “The team did a great job with the car. We are now in the championship lead and it feels amazing to gain so many points in only two races. It’s one of the best feelings.”

In qualifying for Race 1, VeeKay earned a championship point from his track-record pole position lap, leading the field to the green flagon Saturday afternoon. VeeKay went on to dominate the 25-lap race, which was unaffected by full-course yellows, to take victory by almost three seconds over David Malukas.

Starting second for Sunday’s race, VeeKay would inherit the lead after David Malukas suffered a mechanical failure on Lap 8. Despite a full-course yellow with four laps remaining, VeeKay remained flawless on the restart to fend off pressure from his Juncos Racing teammate, Robert Megennis and Oliver Askew. The win completed back-to-back weekend sweeps, marking four straight wins for VeeKay and extending his championship lead to 31 points over Canadian Parker Thompson.

“It was a perfect weekend, two perfect weekends in a row,” said VeeKay. “I’m just super happy. Now we are on to Gateway for the second oval of the season, alongside the Verizon IndyCar Series. The team did really well there last year so I have high hopes.”