Saavedra In, Aleshin Out for Toronto

July 13, 2017 Joey Barnes Breaking News, Headline News, IndyCar Comments Off on Saavedra In, Aleshin Out for Toronto
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

Sebastian Saavedra returns to the Verizon IndyCar Series to pilot the No. 7 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto.

Mikhail Aleshin, the usual full-time driver of the entry, will sit on the sidelines but be on hand for “support” according to a team release.

Gary Peterson, owner and longtime supporter of Saavedra, will have his AFS Racing branding joining the No. 7 Lucas Oil SPM Honda. The move also reunites the Colombian with former Indy Lights race engineer Blair Perschbacher.

Saavedra only other outing this season was in the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil in May with Juncos Racing, finishing 15th.

The team has remained quiet as to why the change is happening, but the season hasn’t been the smoothest for Aleshin.

The Russian sits 16th in the standings and has yet to post a top five finish this season. Two race weekends ago at Road America, DTM driver and Canadian Robert Wickens enjoyed a Friday behind the wheel of the No. 7 after it was learned that Aleshin had immigration issues. However, he returned for Saturday and Sunday duties. Aleshin also crashed out from fourth position last weekend at Iowa.

About Joey Barnes 600 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.
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