Schmidt Peterson adds Tristan Vautier to IndyCar line-up
Schmidt Peterson Motorsport has completed its long-planned expansion to two cars by signing rookie Tristan Vautier alongside compatriot Simon Pagenaud for the 2013 IndyCar season
Vautier won last year's Indy lights title with the Schmidt team, and several crew members from his Lights campaign will be promoted along with him to work on his car.
Team co-owner Sam Schmidt said that he believes the addition of a second car will help the team to build on its momentum from last season, when it helped Pagenaud to earn rookie of the year honours and finish fifth in the standings.
"We achieved success with Simon Pagenaud last season as a properly-run single-car team, but I believe we'll be even better with two cars given the chemistry of the package and personnel we have put together for this programme," Schmidt said.
"You really need to run two cars to reap the benefits of two sets of data and vie for the championship at this level."
Vautier tested with the team at Sebring last December, finishing the day with the second-quickest time overall.
2013 IndyCar Series line-up so far: Team Engine Drivers AJ Foyt Racing Honda Takuma Sato Andretti Autosport Chevy Ryan Hunter-Reay/James Hinchcliffe/Marco Andretti/tba Bryan Herta Autosport Honda Alex Tagliani Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Dario Franchitti/Scott Dixon/Charlie Kimball Dale Coyne Racing Honda tba Dragon Racing Chevy Sebastien Bourdais/tba Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy Ed Carpenter KV Racing Technology Chevy Tony Kanaan/Simona de Silvestro Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Chevy JR Hildebrand/Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda Graham Rahal/(Mike Conway - Long Beach only) Sarah Fisher Hartman Honda Josef Newgarden Schmidt Peterson Honda Simon Pagenaud/Tristan Vautier Team Penske Chevy Will Power/Helio Castroneves
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