IndyCar: Pietro Fittipaldi to drive part-time in #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda

Pietro Fittipaldi has been confirmed as one of two drivers for Dale Coyne Racing’s #19 Honda in the 2018 IndyCar season.

Dale Coyne, the owner of IndyCar team Dale Coyne Racing, recently announced that the team’s second full-time car, the #19 Honda, would be driven by more than one driver throughout the 2018 season, as no driver could come up with the funds to drive the car full-time on his own.

At Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida, 21-year-old Pietro Fittipaldi was set to test an Indy Lights car for Juncos Racing, which he did.

But with Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing’s lone full-time driver, in Daytona to compete in the Rolex 24, the opportunity presented itself for Fittipaldi to test the #18 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing as well. Coyne offered him this opportunity, and Fittipaldi took him up on the offer.

Following the test, Coyne was impressed with Fittipaldi, and Fittipaldi was impressed with IndyCar, thus allowing Fittipaldi to emerge as a likely candidate to drive the #19 Honda for the team alongside Sebastian Bourdais in his #18 Honda throughout the season.

When Coyne made the announcement about the #19 Honda being driven by at least two drivers throughout the 2018 season, Fittipaldi’s odds of driving the #19 Honda in a part-time role skyrocketed since he was already a candidate to potentially drive the car full-time.

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Coyne made it clear last week that he intended to name Fittipaldi as one of the team’s two part-time drivers of the #19 Honda in the 2018 season. The 21-year-old has now officially been confirmed as one of those two drivers.

Fittipaldi is set to drive in seven races throughout the 2018 season, with his first race taking place at Phoenix and one of the other races being the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500.

There is a strong likelihood that both he and the other part-time driver of the #19 Honda, which will likely be 19-year-old Zachary Claman DeMelo, will drive in the Indianapolis 500 in May. Both part-time drivers are expected to drive in the race alongside the aforementioned Bourdais and Pippa Mann, who regularly drives in the race for the team.

Once Claman DeMelo is officially confirmed as the #19 Honda’s other driver for the 2018 season, we plan to publish an article regarding the complete driver schedule for the #19 Honda throughout the year.

Here is what Fittipaldi had to say about getting this opportunity, according to Motorsport.com.

"“This is a dream come true, even more so to be racing in the Indy 500, where my family already has a history of great results. I want to thank the entire team at Dale Coyne Racing, along with Escuderia Telmex for this massive opportunity and important step in my career. It’s no secret that I also have an objective to one day race in Formula 1, so I’m excited to be racing on a world stage like IndyCar this year.”"

Fittipaldi has driven in several racing series since beginning his professional racing career back in 2011. He has driven in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the Protyre Formula Renault Championship, the Protyre Formula Renault Autumn Cup and the BRDC Formula 4 Championship.

He has also driven in the BRDC Formula 4 Winter Championship, the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series, the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship and the World Series Formula V8 3.5.

He won the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship, the 2014 Protyre Formula Renault championship, the 2015-16 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 championship and last year’s World Series Formula V8 3.5 championship.

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How will Pietro Fittipaldi perform in his first IndyCar season as a part-time driver of the #19 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing? The season is set get started with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 11th, but his first race is the Phoenix Grind Prix at ISM Raceway on Saturday, April 7th.