With the arrival of the new year, and the almost complete resolution of the IndyCar grid, the activity begins to intensify around the Extra car drivers trying to compete in the Indianapolis 500 next May 29. Based on the ambition to line up this vehicle in other races during the year, McLaren SP has announced that its third car in the legendary event will be driven again by Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of the Indy 500 in the years 2000 and 2015.
The 46-year-old veteran Colombian rider, who has competed full-time in endurance since 2018, will carry out his seventh participation in the test, to which he returned in 2021 with a final ninth place after starting 24th. On this occasion, instead of the # 86 that he wore then, Montoya will compete with # 6, a deliberately vacated number since the serious crippling injury in 2018 that kept Canadian Robert Wickens off the slopes. Today, Wickens retains an advisory role on the team as his slow recovery continues.
Loading tweet …
1480933856626810884
As happened last year, Montoya will also participate in the Indianapolis Grand Prix which takes place on May 14, just before the start of training for the Indy 500, thus contesting the full program of the Month of May with his teammates Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist. A year ago, the lack of recent experience in single-seaters (he had not competed in one since 2018) was more evident in the GP, since he qualified in the last of the 25 positions and could only be 21st in the race.
Heading into 2023 in which he could begin his quest for the Triple Crown at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Montoya remains active in racing despite his age, adding to his adventures in Indianapolis the full program you have signed with DragonSpeed for the IMSA 2022 season. In the 12 hours of Sebring you will be accompanied by your 16 year old son, Sebastian Montoya, in whose career he is very overturned after the fourth position that he has achieved in the difficult Italian Formula 4.
The car and livery that Montoya raced last year. – © IndyCar Series
«I am delighted to return to Indianapolis to compete again in a career that holds a special place in my heart», Affirms Montoya. “Last year I had a great experience with the team and we want to build on the progress we made in 2021. I think we have a real chance of being up front and fighting for victory.” Zak Brown, for his part, did not miss the opportunity to refer to the Colombian as «a motorsport institution, adding a truly beneficial experience for our team, and another driver with the potential to win whenever he gets in the car.
Thus, Montoya reappears once more in the IndyCar world, which he arrived at in 1999 under the name CART as champion of Formula 3000 (predecessor of Formula 2) in the exchange of drivers between Williams F1 and Chip Ganassi Racing for which Alex Zanardi returned to the Great Circus. Montoya did not miss the opportunity to drive for the champion team: champion on first try with seven wins, and winner of the Indy 500 on first try in 2000, a very dominant and emblematic triumph as the race belonged to the rival competition (Indy Racing League).
This was followed by his mediatic passage through Formula 1, where he achieved seven victories and 30 podiums in six years for Williams and McLaren, in addition to fighting for the 2003 title. No less media were his seven years of NASCAR with Ganassi, where he did not achieve great achievements (neither of his two victories was in ovals), although he slipped into the top 10 in 2009. After that journey, in 2014 it returned to a unified IndyCar and very different from the one he left behind. Although he was only three years full-time with Team Penske, he made his mark in 2015 with his second win at Indianapolis and a championship that he led all year until losing in a points tie to Scott Dixon in the final race.
Resistance has been Montoya’s new venture in recent years. After three seasons at the IMSA and obtaining the title in 2019, the Colombian jumped onto the scene of the World Endurance in 2021 within the LMP2 class. Le Mans is the last race that he needs to close the finishing touch to his career, and although Montoya has publicly not given importance to that achievement, his actions speak for themselves. For now, wait a few weeks before Indianapolis, where has always finished in the top 10 and has only dropped out once.