Servia replaces Bell at Patrick

Bell's place in the team has been under threat for some time after a series of crashes, culminating in him being placed on indefinite probation after he took out Bruno Junqueira at Toronto recently. Servia started the season with PWR Racing, but was a victim of the team's lack of funding and was forced out after a handful of races.

"Oriol is a very talented young driver," said team boss Pat Patrick. "When he became available we had to take a very hard look at our current situation and what was best for our sponsor Visteon, the team and Townsend. Putting Oriol in the car will give us chance to evaluate our race team, and give Townsend an opportunity to sit back and study things from a more objective position."

Servia said: "I would have preferred to join the team under different circumstances. I know from experience how hard it is to work your way into this series, and I certainly didn't want to take someone's ride. However, when this opportunity became available it was obvious that it was the best situation for my career."