Ex-F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez seals Dale Coyne IndyCar seat
Esteban Gutierrez has finalised his deal to substitute for Sebastien Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing for the remainder of the 2017 IndyCar season
The former Formula 1 driver made his IndyCar debut in place of Bourdais - who was injured in a crash in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 - in Detroit earlier this month.
Gutierrez and Coyne expressed an interest in continuing their partnership for the remainder of the season - three rounds of which clashed with Formula E, where Gutierrez had contested three rounds with Techeetah.
That team has since replaced him with Stephan Sarrazin, but claimed the split was a breach of Gutierrez's contract.
Gutierrez was unable to take part in the Texas IndyCar race a fortnight ago as he had not taken an oval rookie test, but has now reached an agreement to contest the remaining rounds of the season.
His first event as full-time stand-in will be this weekend's race at Road America.
"I'm very happy to finally announce my racing programme for the rest of the season," said Gutierrez.
"To represent Mexico in the IndyCar Series has a huge significance to all the fans who have been following the series through history and I'm very grateful to fill in this position.
"IndyCar has highly competitive teams and drivers and the challenge for me will be great, but I will use all my experience from Formula 1 with Sauber, Haas F1 team and Ferrari in order to adapt quickly to the car and the tracks.
"I look forward to continue working with Dale Coyne Racing and Honda, I put my trust in them to achieve great results together."
After Tristan Vautier raced the #18 car at Texas, Gutierrez tested alongside team-mate Ed Jones at Road America last week.
Gutierrez was less than 0.1 seconds slower than Jones in comparable conditions around the 4.048-mile circuit, with both of them driving Indycars at the track for the first time.
"We're very pleased that Esteban can join us for the remainder of the season," said team owner Dale Coyne.
"Esteban did a very good job in Detroit despite having a lot to learn in a short amount of time.
"He fitted in very well with the team and I look forward to our next races with him."
It has not yet been established when Gutierrez will take his oval rookie test, but it will likely be at next week's test at Iowa Speedway ahead of the race at the same venue on July 9.
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