Herta poised for return with Coyne
Bryan Herta, CART's latest owner of the 'Supersub' tag, could soon be back in a full-time drive for the first time since Fontana 1999 with Dale Coyne Racing
The team is looking to place Herta, a two-time winner in CART, in the car recently vacated by Takuya Kurosawa, who needed surgery on his back after a crash. According to team boss Dale Coyne, the deal is "99 percent" complete.
"Dale approached me at Mid-Ohio and he was on his way to (sponsor) Sports Today to see what they thought," confirmed Herta, according to Speedvision. "I should know something by the end of the week. It seems like it makes a lot of sense. It's a chance to get some miles, and I know Coyne is committed to improving his team and maybe we can do that together."
Gualter Salles is currently driving the car, having taken over at Mid-Ohio. He will continue for Elkhart Lake, after which Herta will take over. Herta is regarded as a specialist at Laguna Seca, the circuit where both of his wins came.
"It's an opportunity to go out there and get sharp for winter testing, as well as working to make this team better," Herta said. "I didn't want to go out there, especially with the newest testing restrictions, and spend the first six sessions next year getting me back up to speed.
"Plus, just being out of the car for another two months wasn't what I wanted to do," he continued. "You saw at the beginning of the year with Dario (Franchitti) how much he said his driving had suffered from being out for six weeks."
Herta will take over the Lola-Ford, ironically alongside Tarso Marques in the Panasonic Swift. Herta was originally pencilled in to race the series' sole Swift for the Forsythe Championship Racing team, but the team pulled its entry in a dispute over franchises. Swift consequently applied works status to Coyne, and provided Marques, who had been testing the car, as its driver.
Rodin reveals more details about 'F1-beating' hypercar
More details have been revealed about Rodin’s new closed-cockpit FZERO hypercar, which it intends will offer greater performance than Formula 1 machinery.
Magazine: F1 Hungarian GP review, FE London and BTCC Knockhill
Last weekend's Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, featuring another Ferrari clanger and Max Verstappen victory, is our focus on the cover of this week’s Autosport magazine, out today (4 August).
MotorsportDays LIVE reveals date of 2022 show at Silverstone
Motorsport Network is excited to announce that MotorsportDays LIVE will be held at Silverstone on 4-5 November 2022.
Red Bull F1 driver Perez to enter team in Agag's E1 powerboat series
Red Bull Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez is to enter a squad in the electric powerboat series being established by Formula E co-founder Alejandro Agag.
Why romanticism isn't the key factor in Lola’s racing return
The iconic Lola name is being relaunched after it was taken over by new ownership. Part of that reboot is a planned return to racing, though the exact details of this are still to be finalised - though its new owner does have a desire to bring the brand back to the Le Mans 24 Hours. But romanticism doesn't appear to be the driving force behind this renewed project...
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
The one-time Schumacher rival rebooting his career Down Under
Joey Mawson made waves in the middle of the last decade, beating future Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher - among other highly-rated talents - to the 2016 German F4 title. A run in F1's feeder GP3 category only caused his career to stall, but now back in Australia Mawson's S5000 title success has set that to rights
The lesson football’s would-be wreckers could learn from racing
OPINION: The greed-driven push for a European Super League that threatened to tear football apart is collapsing at the seams. Motor racing's equivalent, the football-themed Superleague Formula series of 2008-11, was everything that the proposed ESL never could be
The F1 and Indy 'nearly man' that found contentment in Japan
Having had the door to F1 slammed in his face and come within three laps of winning the Indianapolis 500, the collapse of a Peugeot LMP1 shot meant Japan was Bertrand Baguette's last chance of a career. But it's one which he has grasped with both hands