Pietro Fittipaldi Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Sebastien Bourdais has never won at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, but has had a strong car all weekend ahead of Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 for the Verizon IndyCar Series where the Frenchman will start 24th (last) after causing a red flag in the first round of qualifying. Bourdais drives for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser/Sullivan, one of the smallest teams in the IndyCar paddock but one of the most competitive as he has two of the more experienced engineers in the paddock workingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — The Verizon IndyCar Series heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Honda Indy 200 and if past performances are anything to go off of, the rest of the field should be afraid of Scott Dixon. The current INDYCAR points leader has five victories at Mid-Ohio (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014) and currently leads Josef Newgarden by 62 points with five races to go including Mid-Ohio. Behind Dixon and Newgarden in the standings are the top half of Andretti Autosport’s quartet. Alexander RossiRead More

INDIANAPOLIS — Haas F1 reserve driver and current FIA Formula 2 driver Santino Ferrucci will make his Verizon IndyCar Series debut for the Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader weekend. The Connecticut native will race the No. 19 Paysafe Honda in place of Zachary Claman De Melo, who is replacing Pietro Fittipaldi in the Indianapolis 500 after Fittipaldi’s injury from a World Endurance Championship qualifying incident in Belgium two weeks ago. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to be able to race the No. 19 Paysafe car with Dale Coyne Racing at Detroit, especiallyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — In the first day of practice for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap of the day. Pagenaud’s No. 22 Menards Chevrolet went around the 2.5 mile superspeedway at an average speed of 225.787 mph in a lap that came during the morning session. “It was a very productive day,” said Pagenaud. “So, yeah, felt pretty happy. We’re obviously still learning a lot about the aerodynamics of the car. It’s quite different to what we had the past fewRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief INDIANAPOLIS – Zachary Claman De Melo has been officially announced as the replacement for the injured Pietro Fittipaldi at Dale Coyne Racing for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. After making his Verizon IndyCar Series debut at ISM Raceway (formerly Phoenix International Raceway) last month, Fittipaldi was originally slated to make his first run at the Brickyard. However, he was injured after a heavy crash during FIA World Endurance Championship qualifying for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belguim onRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Zachary Claman de Melo will be back in the No. 19 Paysafe Honda for Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – at least for the road course race. DCR announced Thursday that Claman de Melo will replace the injured Pietro Fittipaldi in this weekend’s INDYCAR Grand Prix, adding an additional race to the Canadian’s schedule after three prior starts this season. He was originally slated to be out of the car until Detroit. The call-up comes after Fittipaldi was injured in a qualifying crash forRead More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Writer Dale Coyne Racing driver Pietro Fittipaldi suffered “suspected fractures to both legs” in a substantial crash during qualifying for this weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship event at Circuit Spa-Francorchamps. The 21-year-old Brazillian lost control of his No. 10 DragonSpeed BR1 Gibson LMP1 while entering Spa’s famed “Eau Rouge” section and crashed heavily into the tire barriers. The incident forced a 35-minute delay to on-track activities as Fittipaldi was extricated from his car and taken to the track’s medical center before being airlifted to a local hospital.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — With the beginning of the Month of May comes rookie orientation for the four that will attempt to qualify for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 27th and the accompanying veteran refresher tests for those attempting to qualify at Indianapolis that don’t compete full time in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Rookie orientation consists of three speed phases with 10 laps between 205-210 mph, 15 laps between 210-215 mph and another 15 laps above 215 mph. The laps do not have toRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway saw just two cautions for 24 laps and two other incidents that didn’t warrant a yellow flag from on top of the flag stand. However, the incident proved detrimental to the outcome of four drivers, after each made contact with the SAFER Barriers after going up across the 1.022-mile oval. The first retirement of the race came at the hands of Verizon INDYCAR Series debutant Pietro Fittipaldi on Lap 40. After an impressiveRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Friday was the practice and qualifying day ahead of Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway, the first oval in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season and it was a definite day of unpredictability. Preseason testing had Rahal Letterman Lanigan at the top of the time sheets, but after the first session Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato were 17th and 18th, respectively. Chevrolet had the top two positions with Simon Pagenaud first and Tony Kanaan second ahead of five Honda carsRead More