IndyCar: Pietro Fittipaldi to return to Dale Coyne Racing at Mid-Ohio

Pietro Fittipaldi is set to return to IndyCar this weekend in the 2018 season’s 13th race. That race is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

In a crash that took place on Friday, May 4 at Eau Rouge on the 19-turn, 7.004-kilometer (4.352-mile) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium during a World Endurance Championship race, 22-year-old part-time IndyCar driver Pietro Fittipaldi, the grandson of racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi, broke both of his legs.

Before the 2018 IndyCar season began, Fittipaldi was confirmed as one of the two part-time drivers of the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. He was scheduled to drive in seven of the 17 races on this season’s schedule.

Prior to his crash, Fittipaldi only drove in one IndyCar race this year. He drove in the second race of the season, which was the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. That race took place back on Saturday, April 7.

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Fittipaldi crashed in that race and finished in 23rd place, but a solid qualifying effort placed him in 10th on the grid before the start of the 250-lap event.

Having not competed in an IndyCar race in over three and a half months, the Brazilian is set to make his return this weekend in the 90-lap Honda Indy 200 at the 13-turn, 2.258-mile (3.634-kilometer) Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

This race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 29, which is 113 days (16 weeks and one day) after Fittipaldi’s first career and most recent IndyCar start and 86 days (12 weeks and two days) after his devastating accident.

Last Tuesday, Fittipaldi tested at Mid-Ohio, completing roughly 100 laps in the process. It was at this time when he felt as though he had become ready to make his return to the cockpit of the #19 Honda in an IndyCar race. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to IndyCar.

"“I feel like I’m back. Obviously it’s the first day back in the car after two and a half months and it takes a little bit more than usual to get back up to speed. I was expecting it to take a little bit longer, but I got up to speed quickly. We were able to work on setup and move forward for the race weekend. We have a decent base now, and I’m ready for the race.”“I’d never been injured this badly, so I didn’t know what the time frame would be. But everybody has been happy with how my recovery went because it’s gone really fast. Obviously, I’m really happy about that, too.”"

Fittipaldi added the following, according to Autosport.

"“It was amazing, man, I’m so happy to be back. The past two months after my accident, I’ve been working really hard with the great people around me working on getting back to driving. I was able to accomplish that yesterday, I feel the test went very well. I felt very comfortable in the car. It’s been an intense couple of weeks but I think that’s why I was back in the car so soon.“It was a full test, we did around 100 laps, which was a lot. But that was our plan, to get as many laps as I could and wear me out a little bit because we’re racing next weekend. We used the morning to get comfortable and see what we had to do with the pedal [adjustments] and everything felt fine right off the bat.”"

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CNBC is scheduled to broadcast the 2018 Honda Indy 200 live from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course starting at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, July 29. Tune in to the race at that time to watch Pietro Fittipaldi make his first IndyCar start since breaking both of his legs back in May and since he made his first career IndyCar start back in early April. An encore of the event is scheduled to air later that night at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.