2016 IndyCar drivers and teams
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Good to see Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot will make his IndyCar debut with RLL next year, though he doesn’t have a full programme confirmed. So far he’s down to do St Petersburg and the two Indianapolis races:
I’d say that’s pretty good actually, considering this is a team expansion and announced 1 month after Pigot defeated Jack Harvey and Ed Jones for the title. There’s a while for RLLR to lock down sponsorship for a second car full-time.
I don’t recall Stoffel Vandoorne or Oliver Rowland getting offered any kind of F1 drive (not yet anyway), and Vandoorne is a McLaren junior…
Meanwhile, Montoya is already aiming for the Triple Crown by testing with Porsche’s LMP1 team: http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/porsche-confirms-date-for-montoya-lmp1-test/
That makes him the 5th consecutive Indy Lights champion to have an Indycar start the following season.
W/Pigot confirmed there's a very good chance we'll have each of last 5 @IndyLights champs on grid in '16. JN, TV, SK, GC, now SP.
— Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) October 20, 2015
On a slightly off topic note, Montoya is already setting up for the Triple Crown by testing with Porsche:
Welcome at the wheel of #Porsche919Hybrid. @jpmontoya is having his seat fit for the Bahrain test on Nov 22 @fiawec pic.twitter.com/9E9aSBYXXP
— Porsche Motorsport (@PorscheRaces) October 20, 2015
Some strange delayed posting going on here.
“21st October 2015, 9:02 at 9:02 am”
Actually, I tried to post that the day before but it came up blank. The site wouldn’t let me log out either…
Back on topic, as far as I know the lineup here is accurate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_IndyCar_Series_season#Confirmed_teams_and_drivers
This testing lineup gives more clues – https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRudTvXUsAA06Zl.jpg
I wonder what Matt Brabham is up to – will be good to see Pigot in Indycar, but Brabham really dominated Pro Mazda in 2013.
On that note – a Venezuelan I hadn’t heard of came 2nd – ahead of Pigot. Sounds like a driver they could really back; instead, they pick others who don’t look as talented (although I think they’ve all been canned now to keep Maldonado in F1).
Jack Harvey’s also a good driver, but I wonder if he’ll now miss out on Indycar, like Guerrieri, without that winner’s cheque. Will Karam get the last Ganassi seat? He was the ROTY in my eyes.
“I wonder what Matt Brabham is up to – will be good to see Pigot in Indycar, but Brabham really dominated Pro Mazda in 2013.”
Formula E, Nascar Late Models, Stadium Super Trucks. He also tested a few times with Andretti’s Indycar team. Good chance of him being in a fourth or fifth car for the 500.
“On that note – a Venezuelan I hadn’t heard of came 2nd – ahead of Pigot. Sounds like a driver they could really back; instead, they pick others who don’t look as talented (although I think they’ve all been canned now to keep Maldonado in F1).”
Diego Ferreira? He was being funded by Viso’s money, which disappeared in 2014. Not active currently from what I can find. Pigot’s championship the following year was in a stronger field, the car counts were higher and international drivers like Jack Aitken participated as well.
“Jack Harvey’s also a good driver, but I wonder if he’ll now miss out on Indycar, like Guerrieri, without that winner’s cheque.”
He did test with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports earlier this year (at Sonoma, along with other Lights drivers) so I wouldn’t assume his chances are over just yet.
“Will Karam get the last Ganassi seat? He was the ROTY in my eyes.”
Ganassi has stated he wants to keep Karam, he could be part-time in Indycar and the Ford GT team but nothing is 100% confirmed yet.
@jb001 Wow, stadium super trucks looks brutal. Brabham lands sideways! Does it support V8 Supercars?
It mostly runs in the US, with 3 Australian races (2 in support of V8 Supercars) and an exhibition at Goodwood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Speed_Energy_Formula_Off-Road_season#Schedule
Ironically, Viso was leading the standings when I last checked…
Max Chilton’s move into IndyCar with Ganassi has been confirmed:
Current IndyCar Drivers’ Championship winning team, Chip Ganassi Racing (CGRT) announced today that former Formula 1 driver Max Chilton will pilot the No. 8 Chevrolet in a full-season effort for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series.
Chilton will become the first British driver in more than a decade and just the fourth in the last 24 years (Nigel Mansell-1993, Mark Blundell-1996, Justin Wilson-2004) to have driven full-time in Formula 1 prior to joining the Verizon IndyCar Series in the same capacity.
At 24, Chilton joins the team after making 35 starts in Formula 1 from 2013-2014 for the Marussia Formula 1 Team. Most recently he contested the 2015 Indy Lights Championship with one win, six podium and 10 top-five finishes.
“I couldn’t be happier to join Chip Ganassi Racing’s Verizon IndyCar Series program. This organisation is built on winning and their 11 INDYCAR Championships back that up. Chip is the kind of team owner that every driver dreams of working for in their career. He’s accomplished so much in so many different categories over the years, and I can’t wait to start driving for him.” said Max Chilton.
“Max is a talented young driver who has driven a number of different disciplines already in a short time. He brings a good deal of experience to our IndyCar lineup and we’re looking forward to him being part of our four-car team in 2016 and making a big contribution.” said Chip Ganassi, owner, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams.
2015 saw Chilton make his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut with Nissan Motorsports in the LMP1 category, while contesting his first season in Indy Lights with Carlin Motorsport, where he won at Iowa Speedway from pole position. His 35 starts in Formula 1 from 2013-2014 included a rookie record for the most consecutive races finished (25), with 19 of them coming in his first season. Prior to Formula 1 he spent the 2010-2012 seasons in the GP2 Series scoring two wins, and contested the British Formula 3 Championship from 2007-2009 where he was a race winner. Chilton began his racing career at the age of 10 in karts.
Surprising choice for Ganassi really, but Chilton’s year in Lights has well and truly paid off. Being team mate to the likes of Kanaan and Dixon is really not going to be easy but he will learn a lot from then (as well as Dario Franchitti). Has to be in with a shout of ROTY honours.
Really surprised that Chilton managed to land a seat at a team as good as Ganassi to be honest. I had assumed that they would be funded well enough not to need a driver with a budget (which Max is surely bringing). He hasn’t really set the world alight in any of the series he has raced in, so he has really managed to land on his feet and it’ll be interesting to see how he performs. If he can’t succeed in Indycar with Ganassi, he won’t succeed with anyone.
Personally, I think Chiltonmania is going to eclipse Mansellmania ’93. :P
So I think that’s every full-time seat occupied so far. Is Carpenter getting a road course driver for the 20 car?
With no seat for him in F1, Alexander Rossi has joined Andretti Autosport:
http://www.indycar.com/News/2016/02/02-23-Rossi-Signs-With-Andretti-Herta
It doesn’t mention what the extent of his programme will be, so hopefully that can be taken as a sign he’ll do the full season. A few years ago he said he wasn’t keen on racing on ovals, which make up five of this year’s 16 races, but he recently gave an interview saying he wasn’t concerned about it.
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