An official announcement of a team in Indianapolis during the month of April is usually linked to a program for the 500 miles. Even more so when it is done in the week of the two general test days in the oval, where all the participants confirmed to date will be. Nevertheless, Paretta Autosport has subverted these historical expectations, and announced today in the venerable oval a 2022 IndyCar racing schedule… that doesn’t include the Indy 500.
The team led by Beth Paretta, who made history last year by competing in the legendary event with a team made up mostly of women, announced this Tuesday a partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing that will allow him to compete in three circuit races this season, with direct support from Chevrolet and the possibility of adding a fourth event, and for this it has ruled out its participation this year in the Indianapolis 500. Carpenter, who is already fielding a third single-seater in oval racing for his founder alongside Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly, will supply Paretta the chassis and the necessary technical assistance to complement the human resources of the team.
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The car, which will keep the number 16 used last year in Indianapolis, will once again be driven by Simona de Silvestrowhich will be contesting her first IndyCar road races since her fourth-place finish at the 2015 Louisiana Grand Prix. The 33-year-old Swiss driver, who has posted one podium finish and four top-fives in 69 races, will return to action on March 12. June at the Grand Prix of Road America and in the next round, the 200 miles of Mid-Ohio of July 3. For the moment, the program culminates its 2022 in the second edition of the Music City Grand Prix on August 7 in the streets of Nashville.
The most likely options for a possible fourth event are to play the Brickyard Grand Prix at the Indianapolis GP circuit on July 30 or the Monterey Grand Prix, the event that closes the season in Laguna Seca on September 11. Paretta, former Dodge North American Racing Director and who enjoys good treatment at General Motors, has chosen to avoid the many logistical complications of fielding a car in the Indy 500 this year, and that could compromise the future of a team with which he aspires to have a more expanded program next year. Part of those problems stemmed from the end of technical support for Team Penske, whose membership in the sport’s diversity program lasted only one year.
Paretta had what it took to compete in the race in terms of resources and personnel, although the latter is somewhat inexperienced and scarce. But it has been the absence of their own chassis, the unwillingness of the rest of the teams to rent theirs, the experience of their tough debut (33rd on the grid, 31st in the race after leaving) and the search for minimal competitive guarantees that has activated a plan B that further strengthens the already crowded IndyCar grid, which will feature a minimum of 27 cars in eight of the remaining 14 races. Reaching 33 in the Indy 500 is still pending, but all the rumors in the sector suggest that this aspect could already be pending announcement…
Photos: IndyCar Media