Medeiros lands IndyCar test

Medeiros, who has won a record seven poles and five races in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series on his way to the title, had previously tested with Patrick Racing. He passed his IRL rookie test at Chicago in August.

"The test went really well," he said. "We did 192 laps. We were working on set-ups, playing with set-ups, learning more about the car. We ran some pitstop simulations so I could get some experience with pitstops and driving on cold tyres.

"I put up some good lap times, and was very consistent. Overall, the test went very well. I'm really happy to have had my second test in an IndyCar Series car. I hope to get some more opportunities soon and hope that those help me get a ride for the 2005 season.

"It's been a solid year in the Pro Series, thanks to the preparation of my team (Sam Schmidt Motorsports), but I want to keep planning for the future."

Last month, Michael Koehane became the first Irish driver to sample an IndyCar Series car, taking the wheel of a Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car at Texas Motor Speedway. Team co-owners Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl are looking to expand to a two-car team for 2005. Felipe Giaffone is the current driver of the No. 24 Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone.

"Thiago is a very talented young driver who‚s done an impressive job in winning the IPS championship," Reinbold said. "We hope to use this opportunity to work with him in getting some miles in the car and see where the future expansion and development of our team may take us."