Its expansion to two cars for the entire IndyCar season and the return of Hélio Castroneves, current winner of the Indianapolis 500 for the fourth time, as a full-time driver was announced at the same time as the team’s departure from Jack Harvey, a fact that has not occurred as a result of the incorporation of the Brazilian. Both the team and the pilot hinted in their official communications that their break was due to a decision by the British pilot, who would have found accommodation in another team whose identity has not been announced.
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That team, in the first instance, appeared to be Andretti Autosport, a team in which the continuity of 50% of its drivers is highly in doubt, and an important leap forward that would justify having broken a renovation that was pending signature. Nevertheless, as reported by RACER, the main candidate to take over their services is Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team that, like Shank, has recently won the Indy 500 and is looking to expand their line-up, in his case to three cars to fight for the championship.
Surprisingly, that same information ensures that Harvey would not be nominated for the alleged third car, which Santino Ferrucci has driven in several races this year, but as Surprise substitute for Takuma Sato. The Japanese, who will be 45 years old in 2022, occupies the 10th position in the general classification and has important sponsors, but his speed on the road circuit has suffered a considerable decline in the last year and a half. In fact, at the recent Laguna Seca test where the Rahal team was present, it was Ferrucci who piloted Sato’s vehicle, alleging that the two-time winner of the Indy 500 had not been able to travel to the circuit.
To add fuel to the fire, Rahal will use another of his test days next week at Barber to evaluating two pilots: Oliver Askew, the former Indy Lights champion and former McLaren SP member who has performed two medical substitutions this year, and a second participant not yet confirmed, a profile that Harvey might well fit into. For the moment, it remains up to the air to know with certainty if this test will be a true test for the third car, with multiple candidates waiting for a call, or if it is a first contact for 2022.
Rahal’s third car, the object of desire of several competitors / @ IndyCar Media
In the Shank team, for his part, he claimed to have already chosen the man who will replace Harvey in the official statement, a “dynamic pilot who will turn heads.” However, Mike Shank himself has commented afterwards that the choice would not be made yet: «We will go over the list and find out who meets our needs. We have not decided yet how it will be done. We could do something like a Gong Show with a few pilots», He assured in RACER, referring to the holding of ‘shootout’ tests to test potential pilots. I hate doing it like this, but it could be productive.
Among the potential candidates for a car that has demonstrated the ability to be at the forefront, one of the names that comes to the fore the most is that of Kyle kirkwood, the new great pearl of the Road to Indy. The 22-year-old has amassed a massive win ratio during his time in Formula 4 USA, Formula Regional Americas, US F2000, Indy Pro 2000 and Indy Lights, the competition in which he occupies this leadership. Since 2017, Kirkwood has won 51 of the 79 races who has played in these categories, with his percentage of triumphs of almost 65%. This year he has six victories in 12 Indy Lights races, two of them at a Mid-Ohio circuit where his last eleven appearances are counted by victory.
Kyle Kirkwood celebrates one of his triumphs this season. / @ Indy Lights
Michael Andretti recruited him last year before the outbreak of the pandemic, and after an excellent test in his Formula E team in March 2020, he has become his main protégé. However, instead of getting him directly into one of his four cars, the Andretti Autosport boss would be more for the work of repeat the formula that was so successful with Colton Herta, ‘yielding’ Kirkwood to a satellite structure for blanking without pressure to get results. Given the technical alliance between both parties, and that car # 06 does not require additional sponsorship, Shank seems a more than ideal destination to meet that need, especially if Kirkwood ends up getting the $ 1.25 million prize for being Indy Lights champion.
In the event that neither Harvey nor Kirkwood land on Andretti, the shortlist of possible drivers to accompany Herta and Alexander Rossi opens wide. Romain Grosjean seems one of the strongest alternatives within the plausible drivers to hire, as long as the Frenchman starts to run all the ovals, and Askew himself also appears as an option, as well as retaining the services of Hinchcliffe if his sponsorship package maintains its current conditions. Any other possibility would have to come from outside the championship, being a known fact that Alexander Albon has evaluated the possibility of competing in the United States.
Another potential ex-F1 that could have its sights on IndyCar is Nico Hülkenberg. The German driver, who is trying to exhaust his options to return to the Formula 1 paddock as Albon, has sounded in some circles as a possible candidate to drive for McLaren SP, either as a replacement for a Felix Rosenqvist going through an absolutely disastrous 2021, or even in a third car if this team also decides to expand its resources. What does not seem plausible in the short term is the incorporation of Kevin Magnussen, whose contract with Peugeot for the World Endurance Championship would pose a practical impossibility of a full-time seat.
Penske and Ganassi have generated hardly any noise on the continuation of his quartet for 2022, and although Simon Pagenaud has not yet renewed his contract, there is an intention on the part of Roger Penske to offer him a one-year extension. For its part, everything points to Jimmie Johnson to add Indy 500 to track program in 2022, but its position on the rest of the ovals is still unknown, something that could begin to be clarified when the new calendar is published. This will determine the position of Tony Kanaan, who still has another year on his contract to deal with # 48 on the ovals.
And the rest? Well, it is still too early to say anything. Phone will boil to calls at Dale Coyne Racing at the end of the season when both of his cars become vacant, with the possibility that Rick Ware Racing wants more races for the third car. In the first instance, It doesn’t look like Rinus VeeKay is going to leave Ed Carpenter Racing yetBut his name will be at the top of many lists to replace a big name when the time comes, and Conor Daly’s status as the # 20 circuit racer will largely depend on his successful renewal of his trade agreement with the US Air Force. , in the absence of solid results.
The Foyt team will pay at the end of the year to evaluate its direction, with no other certainties than the intention of continuing to count on Sébastien Bourdais … and who knows what he will do at the end of the year Carlin, whose presence in the category is supported by the money of Max Chilton. Fortunately, the rest of the teams would be ready to cover an eventual exit from the grid, as well as potential new entrants, such as Juncos, Top Gun Racing or even George Steinbrenner IV, co-owner of Andretti’s # 29, and who said he was interested in having his own team, with Devlin DeFrancesco being a prime and ideal candidate from Indy Lights, although perhaps without setting his sights on 2022. And all this without counting the seats! of the Indy 500! Definitely, a very silly season.