The arrival of the month of September not only signals the end of the IndyCar with its last three events on the West Coast of the United States, it is also a key month for the booming pilot market trying to get places for the 2022 season. In fact, two teams with open vacancies have made announcements this Wednesday for the final stretch of the year, the earliest being Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with Oliver Askew’s confirmation in his third car for the last three races of the season.
The 24-year-old American driver, who has competed this year as a substitute in two races for two different teams, will be the occupant of car # 45, which has been lined up in six of the 13 races held so far and that he will be present full time in the 2022 season. Askew’s participation will take place in consecutive weeks September 12-26, in Portland, Laguna Seca and Long Beach, all of them scenarios in which this pilot does not have competitive experience as they are absent from the 2020 calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Askew had his first contact with Rahal last July 26 in a private test at Barber with Christian Lundgaard. The Dane was the one who got into the car at the Brickyard Grand Prix, finishing twelfth after placing fourth in a brilliant classification. His result has been the worst of the car this season, since Santino Ferrucci did not come down from eleventh place in the five races that he previously contested, his ceiling being the sixth places achieved in the Indianapolis 500 and the first race in Detroit.
The 2019 Indy Lights Champion He made his championship debut as a McLaren SP driver in 2020 alongside Pato O’Ward, achieving a podium at the Iowa Oval, but a strong accident at the Indianapolis 500 conditioned his season, driving with a post-concussion syndrome that he hid for several rounds. This fact, after a reevaluation that preceded a brief medical leave, led to McLaren SP dispenses with its services for 2021 in a controversial decision, being replaced by a Felix Rosenqvist who, despite having more cache and experience, has had a much worse season to date.
This year, Askew was the first choice of two different teams to cover their respective forced absences.. After Rosenqvist’s violent accident in the first round of the Detroit Grand Prix, Askew got into the car in the second with almost no time on the track, having to abandon the race due to engine problems. At the next event, at Road America, he replaced Ed Carpenter Racing for Rinus VeeKay, injured in a bicycle accident. There, Askew finished twelfth, after a strategic bet different from the rest was just one lap away from giving you a surprising victory.
Their participation will have the support of the same company that allows the expansion of the program from # 45 to full time next year, with which Rahal hopes to be able to lay the glove on the big teams of the contest after a very regular year, but without victories. With no confirmed driver for a car that has many potential occupants in 2022, Askew will have an unbeatable opportunity to demonstrate your qualifications to return to the grill full time. In 2021, his main occupation has been driving an LMP3 in the IMSA championship, winning his class at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Riley Motorsports before being recruited by Andretti Autosport to perform the same duties.