Junior Strous and HVM's Keith Wiggins
It was confirmed last evening that Dutch racer Junior Strous has joined HVM Racing for the 2010 Indy Lights season. He was originally planning to drive for Team Moore Racing but was released from his contract for unknown reasons. The speculation was that he had a better offer from someone else and that just might have been the case.
HVM Racing plans to field Junior in the Firestone Indy Lights series in 2010 but mentions IndyCar testing and racing opportunities as a possibility in the near future.
“Junior is a proven talent,” stated Team Owner Keith Wiggins in a release. “He’s won races, so we know he has good skills behind the wheel. We will start him in a (Firestone Indy) Lights car and plan to do some testing with him in the big car at some point this season also. I have no doubt that with continued development he will be in an IZOD IndyCar Series car in the future,” continued Wiggins.
Junior Strous seems very content with the new opportunity and is looking forward to the possibility of competing in IndyCar.
“I’m now closer to reaching my ultimate goal and that’s racing the big IndyCars,” Strous said in a team release. “If I have a chance to improve my position, I’ll always go for it. The HVM partnership offers me good opportunities both for the short and long term in my racing career. HVM is the place to be to achieve my goals.”
HVM Racing has teamed up with Team Stargate Worlds to field former Atlantic Championship standout Simona de Silvestro in the 2010 IndyCar series. It’s likely that we will see Strous join her in North America’s top-tier open wheel series later this season.
Carmen Jorda
It was originally thought that Carmen Jorda had signed with Walker Racing for the 2010 Indy Lights season. However, that rumor proved to be false as it was announced last evening that Jorda had, in fact, signed with Andersen Racing for 2010.
Carmen, 21, tested with Andersen Racing at the open test last month at Barber Motorsports Park.
She spent the 2009 season in European F3 Open which used to be known as the Spanish F3 Championship. The 21-year-old managed to finish on the podium twice in the Copa de España division. She also ran three races in a LMP2 car in the Le Mans Series.
James Winslow
This is sort of old news by now, but still worthy of mention. James Winslow, who competed in the Atlantic Championship last season, completed a test last week with Sam Schmidt Motorsports in an Indy Lights car while at Sebring International Raceway.
James is currently looking to secure a ride in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights series. Nothing official has been announced at this time.
Last fall, I wrote this about his Atlantic season:
James Winslow didn’t have a break-out season but he was one of the few drivers who actually improved throughout the year. He also earned 3-hard charger awards; Sebring, Mid-Ohio, and Road Atlanta. While racing, he improved on his starting position in 75% of his race starts. His best finish this season was 7th, which occurred at Lime Rock Park, Trois-Riviéres, Road Atlanta, and Laguna Seca.
It would be nice to see James return to North America full-time in 2010. He was running on a very limited budget last season and he was unfamiliar with most of the tracks. If he is able to put together the necessary funding for an Indy Lights season, it will be fun to watch his progress in 2010.
With temperatures hovering just above the 40 degree Fahrenheit mark in Alabama this morning, Indy Lights’ drivers cautiously entered the track for their first official test of the 2010 season. According to the Tweets of several teams… no one wanted to be the first driver on track. Philip Major, who is driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, was the first driver willing to test the limits of adhesion on the cool racing surface. Shortly thereafter he was joined by the balance of the field, which included 14 drivers.
Martin Plowman (Andretti Autosport) quickly jumped to the top of the timing and scoring page early in the session. It didn’t take long for Canadian James Hinchcliffe (Team Moore) to take away the top spot. Plowman remained close throughout the morning session but was unable to re-take the fast lap.
In the afternoon session, Andretti Autosport’s Charlie Kimball held the top spot for a lengthy period of time but was eventually bumped down the charts by Hinchcliffe.
Keep in mind that lap-times aren’t essential to a “good test” and every team had different objectives heading into today’s session. Regardless, I’ve compiled a few thoughts on today’s test (which tend to revolve around lap-times)… so, as usual, it is up to you how serious you want to take this.
What Was Good
- JK Vernay- Despite a lack of experience in a Firestone Indy Lights car, Jean-Karl quickly jumped up the timing charts (holding the third quickest lap for most of the morning). He was by far the quickest rookie during the test. During the morning session he was over a full second quicker than teammates Pippa Mann and Philip Major.
- James Hinchcliffe- Hinch was very fast in both the morning and afternoon session. He was the only driver to break into the 1:14’s throughout the day, setting a fast lap of 1:14.9604.
- Charlie Kimball- Kimball only ran 15-laps during the morning session due to an engine issue (see below). Despite running very few laps, by comparison to all the other competitors, Kimball managed to post the 3rd quickest time of the morning session trailing Hinch’s fast time by a mere 0.8946 seconds.
What Wasn’t So Good
- Cold Temps- Well, it didn’t snow, but the cold temperatures (especially during the morning session) caused some problems for a few teams and drivers. Not to mention the fact that the conditions greatly affected the amount of useful data teams were able to take away from today’s pre-season test. The afternoon temperatures were in the low-50’s.
- Rodrigo Barbosa- Barbosa has more experience than 57% of the drivers taking part in the Barber Motorsports Park test, but still trailed the field in both the morning and afternoon session.
- Kimball’s Engine Failure- During the morning session, Charlie Kimball was forced to only run 15-laps due to an engine failure. He quite possibly would have been much higher on the time sheets if he was able to run more laps. Regardless, Andretti Autosport did a great job getting him back on track quickly.
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Combined Results Sorted by Lap Time
- James Hinchcliffe 1:14.9604 (session 1)
- Martin Plowman 1:15.0832 (session 1)
- Charlie Kimball 1:15.1716 (session 2)
- Sebastian Saavedra 1:15.3818 (session 2)
- Jan Heylen 1:15.5407 (session 2)
- Stefan Wilson 1:15.5912 (session 2)
- JK Vernay 1:15.6040 (session 2)
- Gustavo Yacaman 1:16.0609 (session 2)
- Pippa Mann 1:16.7144 (session 2)
- Richard Kent 1.16.8621 (session 2)
- Philip Major 1:16.9294 (session 2)
- Adrian Campos Jr. 1:17.5841 (session 1)
- Carmen Jorda 1:18.9406 (session 2)
- Rodrigo Barbosa 1:19.8520 (session 2)
It was announced today that the 2010 Skip Barber National Champion will receive a Indy Lights test courtesy of Bryan Herta Autosport. The new partnership between Bryan Herta and Skip Barber Racing will also allow Skip Barber National competitors the chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at the operation of BHA and Indy Lights competition during race weekends.
This looks like a win-win partnership for both Bryan Herta and the Skip Barber Racing School. It’s nice to see another Indy Lights test being awarded to today’s up-and-coming open wheel drivers. Let’s hope these type of partnerships continue with other teams and series.
- Gustavo Yacaman
(photo: Junior Open Wheel Talent)
Gustavo Yacaman will return for his sophomore season in the Firestone Indy Lights series after signing with Cape Motorsports and Wayne Taylor Racing. Yacaman had a tough season in 2009, one that was riddled with injury and disappointment. The 18-year-old Colombian will look to rebound in 2010 under the guidance of Dominic and Nicholas Cape along with multi-time sports car champion’ Wayne Taylor. Simon Hodgson will oversee the program as the Operations Manager of Wayne Taylor Racing.
Last season, while driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Yacaman finished 12th in the final standings. He completed the year with 7 top-ten finishes. His best result occurred at Milwaukee, where he finished 4th.
- Sebastian Saavedra Joins BHA
(photo: IndyCar.com/Ron McQueeney)
Colombian Sebastian Saavedra has signed with Bryan Herta Autosport for the 2010 Indy Lights season. The duo will also make the jump to the IndyCar series for the 2010 Indy 500.
Saavedra, 19, drove for AFS/AGR (now known as AFS/Andretti Autosport) last season in Firestone Indy Lights competition. He finished third in the championship with 2 wins, 7 podiums and 11 top-tens.
He was incredibly fast last season and had the potential to win the overall championship but he seemed to be overly aggressive in certain situations… which, in turn, led to some rookie mistakes. I expect we will see a much more mature driver behind-the-wheel in 2010. He earned the 2009 Indy Lights Rookie of the Year Award at the championship banquet last fall.
Saavedra will join British driver Stefan Wilson under the Bryan Herta Autosport tent.
J.K. Vernay
Sam Schmidt Motorsports announced that they have signed Jean-Karl Vernay for the 2010 Indy Lights season. Vernay will fill the third seat at SSM, partnering Philip Major and Pippa Mann.
The 22-year-old Frenchman will be an excellent addition to Sam’s squad. He tested with the team earlier this month at both Homestead-Miami Speedway and Palm Beach International Raceway. I fully expect him to be a front-runner throughout the season.
Last season, J.K. competed in the Formula 3 Euro Series where he finished fifth in the overall standings. He completed the year with 2 wins, 5 podiums and 13 top-tens. Away from the F3 Euro Series he competed in the treacherous Macau Grand Prix—which is the most prestigious F3 race in the world— and finished 2nd.
He also has experience in A1GP. He drove four races for Team France during the 2006-2007 season.
The entry list for the Indy Lights open test at Barber Motorsports Park was released today. No huge surprises here but there are some obvious candidates missing from the list. Hopefully, that issue will be resolved in the near future.
As a side note, Charlie Kimball is the lone American entered in the test.
- Richard Kent (Genoa)
- Carmen Jorda (Andersen Racing)
- Gustavo Yacaman (Cape Motorsports w/Wayne Taylor Racing)
- Pippa Mann (Sam Schmidt Motorsports)
- Philip Major (Sam Schmidt Motorsports)
- Jean-Karl Vernay (Sam Schmidt Motorsports)
- Jan Heylen (Team E)
- Rodrigo Barbosa (PDM)
- James Hinchcliffe (Team Moore)
- Adrian Campos Jr. (Team Moore)
- Charlie Kimball (AFS/Andretti Autosport)
- Martin Plowman (AFS/Andretti Autosport)
- Stefan Wilson (Bryan Herta Autosport)
- Sebastian Saavedra (Bryan Herta Autosport)
James Hinchcliffe (photo_IndyCar.com)
Yesterday I received a release that said Junior Strous had been released from his contract by TMR. This morning I received another release that stated James Hinchcliffe has signed with Team Moore. The news about Hinchtown joining the Indiana squad was actually leaked early yesterday on the Tweetosphere.
So, here is some Moore news for you even if it’s already old.
Canadian James Hinchcliffe has officially signed with Team Moore Racing for the 2010 Indy Lights season. Additionally, the team has brought in renowned engineer Lee Dykstra who worked with James in the Atlantic Championship.
Last season, James drove for Sam Schmidt Motorsports during his first year in Indy Lights competition. He finished the season fifth in the overall rankings with 5 podiums and 10 top-ten finishes.
