Photos from Indycar
Two driver announcements for Portland today. Juncos Hollinger racing has signed F1 test driver Callum IIlott for Portland and Oliver Askew returns to Indycar in the 45 car for Rahal letterman Lanigan Racing. It is possible that Ilott will be fulltimne for Juncos Hollinger in 2022.
The official announcements via Indycar:
F1 TEST DRIVER ILOTT TO DEBUT FOR JUNCOS HOLLINGER AT PORTLAND
Ferrari Formula One test driver Callum Ilott will make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut with Juncos Hollinger Racing at the Grand Prix of Portland on Sept. 11-12.
British driver Ilott, 22, will be behind the wheel of the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet on the 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon.
“I am pleased and excited to be announcing I will be racing with Juncos Hollinger Racing at Portland,” Ilott said. “This will be my first time in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and running in the United States, which will be a bit of a change from running on the European side. I am looking forward to working with the team during this first phase of their development and am proud to be a part of this opportunity to build into their future embarkment.
“I would like to thank the Ferrari Driver Academy for allowing me to take this opportunity and for Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger for bringing me onboard the team.”
Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger announced their partnership to form Juncos Hollinger Racing in early August. The team committed to running the final three events of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in preparation for a full-time run for the 2022 season. The Grand Prix of Portland will be the first time the team has been on track in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since earning the final qualifying spot for the 2019 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in dramatic fashion.
“We are very excited to welcome Callum Ilott to the Juncos Hollinger Racing family,” Juncos said. “Callum brings a lot of experience and incredible talent to the team. We are confident that he will transition well into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES when we get on track for our final test before making our official debut together at Portland next week.”
Ilott will turn his first laps in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car with Juncos during a test Thursday, Sept. 2 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
He most recently competed in the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, claiming third with IRON LYNX in the LM GTE AM class. Earlier this year, the young Briton was signed by Ferrari’s F1 team as its test driver and was named a reserve driver for the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN F1 team.
Ilott began his racing career running in multiple karting series, earning many wins and podiums, and was regarded as one of the best karting drivers of his time. At age 16, he was the first driver to be taken directly from karts to the FIA F3 European Championship for the 2015 season, joining team Red Bull. That year he was the only driver to finish all 33 races and claimed one podium.
Ilott continued his run in the FIA F3 European Championship during the 2016 season, claiming two wins, seven podiums and two poles to finish sixth overall that year. In 2017, Ilott wrapped up his successful career in the FIA F3 Championship, finishing fourth overall after earning six wins, 11 podiums and nine poles.
In 2018, Ilott was invited to join the Ferrari Driver Academy. That year he also competed in the GP3 Series, capturing two wins, seven podiums and one pole to finish third overall in the championship.
Ilott climbed to the FIA F2 Championship in 2019, earning two podiums and one pole. In 2020, he returned to F2 with Uni-Virtuosi Racing and finished second overall after claiming three wins, six podiums and five poles.
Live coverage of the Grand Prix of Portland starts at 3 p.m. (ET) Sunday, Sept. 12 on NBC and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
ASKEW TO DRIVE NO. 45 RLL ENTRY DURING WEST COAST SWING
By INDYCAR | Published: Sep 1, 2021
NTT INDYCAR SERIES veteran Oliver Askew will drive the No. 45 Hy-Vee entry for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) at the final three races of the 2021 season, team officials announced today.
Askew, 24, will race for the team at the Grand Prix of Portland on Sept. 12, the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sept. 19 and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sept. 26.
Hy-Vee, Inc. – an employee-owned supermarket chain that operates more than 280 retail stores across eight Midwestern states – was the primary sponsor of Graham Rahal’s entry for two races this season as well as a full-season associate and was the primary sponsor of the No. 45 Hy-Vee-sponsored entry at the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, doubleheader races in Detroit, and events in Mid-Ohio and Nashville.
“It’s fantastic opportunity to run the final three races of the season with such a capable team in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing,” Askew said. “We had a very productive test together a few weeks ago at Barber, and I’m excited to drive the team’s car again, this time in Hy-Vee colors in one of the most competitive racing environments the world has ever seen. I believe we can put together a great string of results, and I’m excited to get to work.”
Askew is a graduate of the Road to Indy ladder system with championships in Indy Lights (2019) and Cooper Tires USF2000 (2017). He made his debut in the INDYCAR SERIES with Arrow McLaren SP in 2020, completing a rise from karts to INDYCAR SERIES cars in four seasons. In 2020, he had a best start of fifth place in the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a best finish of third at Iowa Speedway in Race 1 of the doubleheader.
In 2021, Askew has competed in two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, one each for Arrow McLaren SP (Detroit, Race 2) and Ed Carpenter Racing (Road America) as the replacement for their injured drivers Felix Rosenqvist and Rinus VeeKay, respectively. Also in 2021, he made his sports car racing debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and won the LMP3 class with Riley Motorsports.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Sept. 12 at Portland (Oregon) International Raceway. Live coverage starts at 3 p.m. (ET) on NBC and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 