Junior Open Wheel Talent

Leilani Münter will make her return to the Indy Lights series this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. The 33-year-old race driver was very impressive in her Indy Pro Series debut back in 2007. Since that time, she has been focusing on the environment and educating others about creating a greener planet.

In an effort to further promote environmental awareness, Münter will set up a recycle bin outside the Team 3G tent at this weekend's event in Chicago. The recyclable plastic obtained at the race will be used to create t-shirts for Leilani... courtesy of her new sponsor Ecobabble.

Ironically, her last race in the Indy Pro Series also took place at Chicagoland Speedway. She finished 13th out of 22 drivers. Her most notable performance came in her series debut when she qualified 5th at Kentucky Speedway. Prior to her time in the Indy car feeder series she drove late model stock cars.

(photo: Von Swank Photography/LeilaniMünter.com)

After a few weeks of rumor circulation, it was confirmed today that Mexican driver Juan Pablo Garcia has signed with HVM Racing to run this weekend's Indy Lights race at Infineon. This will be HVM's debut in the Indy Lights series and Juan Pablo Garcia's first event in North America. For now, this looks to be a one-off event for Garcia.

The 21-year-old Mexican driver has experience in A1GP (Team Mexico), British F3 (National Class), and Formula Renault 2.0 (PanAm, Eurocup, NEC). His results have been mediocre at best, but British F3 and FR 2.0 Eurocup draw large fields, which means a fairly talented driver could easily run mid pack and go unnoticed. I'm not sure how much testing Garcia has put in with HVM, so it will be interesting to see how quickly he adapts to the car. Working with Michael Crawford should aide the transition time.
(photo: www.autoevolution.com)

Oklahoma native Slade Miller will return to F2000 Championship competition this weekend as the driver of the #17 Quantum Racing entry. He and his father, Wendell Miller, own and operate Quantum Racing Services.

Slade, who competed in the 2006 F2000 Championship season, is scheduled to make his return to Mid-Ohio this weekend. He finished 2nd in his last outing at the circuit (2006). He was 7th in the overall championship at the conclusion of the season. In 2004, he won the prestigious Team USA scholarship that allowed him to compete in the New Zealand Formula Ford championships.

He has spent the last two seasons running USAC Midgets on oval tracks, while living in Indianapolis. You can read the series' official release here.

GP2 driver, Alberto Valerio signed with Comtec Racing for a one-off race in the World Series by Renault at Portimao. Valerio is most likely using the opportunity as a means to obtain additional seat time on the Portimao circuit, prior to his GP2 outing.

The 23-year-old Brazilian driver has one win this season in GP2 (Silverstone), and currently sits 10th in the overall championship with Team Piquet GP.

I received official confirmation this morning that British F3-International points leader, Daniel Ricciardo will make his World Series by Renault debut with Tech 1 Racing at Portimao. He plans to contest the remainder of the WSR season with the exception of the Nurburgring event due to a schedule conflict with his British F3 program.

Ricciardo has been very impressive in British F3 this season, finishing inside the top-five in 83.3% of his 2009 race starts. The 20-year-old Australian driver should adapt to the Formula Renault 3.5 car with relative ease.

(photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography/www.danielricciardo.com)

After struggling to find financial support and subsequently losing his ride at Newman-Wachs Racing to American Jonathan Summerton, ...Markus Niemela is scheduled to complete the remainder of the 2009 season with Jensen Motorsport.

Niemela, who won the 2008 Atlantic Championship, has been ill-funded this season, but managed to work out a contract with Eric Jensen that will see him back in the car this weekend for the Lime Rock Park race. Jensen Motorsport intends to field a car for the Finnish driver for the remainder of the 2009 season.

After crashing in the opening race at Sebring, Markus has finished three consecutive events inside the top-ten.

Matt Lee will return to Atlantic Championship competition this weekend with Conquest Racing. The 19-year-old New York resident signed a deal with the team to compete at this weekend's Lime Rock Park event. Lee drove for Jensen Motorsport in the season opener at Sebring, where he finished ninth.

Jonathan Summerton has had a busy summer driving in both the Indy Lights series and the Atlantic Championship. Both drives were on a race-by-race basis as the 21-year-old Florida resident struggled to find the necessary funding. It was announced today that he will be able to put all his focus on the Atlantic Championship for the remainder of 2009.

After a few weeks of rumors regarding the departure of Markus Niemela from Newman-Wachs Racing.... it was announced today that Niemela is out with Jonathan Summerton taking over the duties for the remainder of 2009. Summerton will partner fellow American John Edwards under the team tent.

Summerton spent the first part of the 2009 Atlantic Championship with Genoa Racing. With Summerton's departure from Genoa, the team will have an open seat heading into the Lime Rock Park race. I was planning on starting a rumor about who will fill the seat, but decided against it, stay tuned for future announcements.

As far as Markus Niemela's situation goes, I'm still waiting on some information from a few inside sources. I will post an update, when the information becomes available.

**update** According to inside sources, Markus Niemela's departure from NWR is funding related... as speculated. He will join Jensen Motorsport for the remainder of the 2009 season.

After making what many assumed was a one-off debut with Kolles & Heinz Union in last weekend's Formula 3 Euro Series event at Norisring, Nick Tandy has signed a contract with the team to compete in the remaining 2009 F3ES events. The catch is, he will be dropping his British F3 efforts with JTR. Tandy was currently in third place in the British F3-International Class after 8 Rounds. He claimed his first BF3 win just over a month ago at Rockingham.

JTR has announced that they plan to continue their 2009 British F3 campaign and are actively looking for a replacement driver. Many are wondering if American Josef Newgarden, who drives a JTR entry in the British Formula Ford series, will step-in and fill the seat.

Bryan Herta Autosport has signed Brazilian Felipe Guimaraes to drive the #29 BHA Indy Lights car at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Guimaraes drove the Brazilian A1 car this season in A1GP. His best finish was 2nd after starting 8th at the Kyalami Circuit in South Africa. His previous experience includes karting, South American F3, and Formula 3000.

His name might be familiar to a few karting fans as Guimaraes won the 2008 Florida Winter Tour Rotax championship in dominant fashion by topping the timesheets in every session. He led every lap of the final event to become the 2008 champion, despite missing the opening rounds in Homestead. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to a Indy Lights car this weekend.
(photo: http://www.a1gp.com)

American Star Mazda driver, Joel Miller has left JDC Motorsports and will join Andersen Racing for the remainder of the 2009 SM season. He tested with the team yesterday at Autobahn in Joliet, Illinois.

The move may have something to do with Andersen Racing's recent success in the Indy Lights series. Miller has made it quite clear that he hopes to run in the IndyCar feeder series for 2010. His latest press release indicates that we may even see him in a Andersen FIL car later this year...

Just as a point of interest, Miller did test an Indy Lights car with Andersen Racing at Sebring last November.

The 2006 F2000 Championship 'Champion', Matt McDonough, will be competing in this weekend's F2000 race at Watkins Glen International Raceway. The former champ will be filling a seat vacated by Jesse Yorio.

The F2000 Championship will be racing alongside the IRL this weekend at Watkins Glen. You can read the series' preview here>>.

Italiaracing.net is reporting that Guillaume Moreau has signed with SG Formula for the World Series by Renault. The 26-year-old Frenchman is currently driving a Corvette in the FIA-GT1 series. He spent the last two years in the World Series by Renault. In 2008, he ran nine events for KTR. His best finish was 3rd at Spa after starting 9th. In 2007, he finished 14th in the WSR points championship after claiming one victory and two podiums.

British F3 front runner, Nick Tandy has signed with Kolles & Heinz Union for the F3 Euro Series...he will replace Carlo van Dam. With so many drivers making a one-off appearance with the Kolles team, it will be interesting to see how long this partnership lasts. Tandy will continue his British F3 efforts with JTR as well...for those of you wondering.

7/4/09 **(update)** Nick Tandy has signed a contract with Kolles & Heinz Union for the remainder of the 2009 F3 Euro Series season. The contract requires that he drop his British F3 efforts with JTR. Story to follow.

After parting ways with Genoa Racing in the Indy Lights series due to financial woes, it is being reported that Richard Philippe will return to a Firestone Indy Lights car with Team PBIR. Richard will partner Charlie Kimball under the team tent.

The current contract is a 5-race deal. It will be interesting to see how this relationship develops. Look for an official release from the team shortly.

Inside sources are reporting that Star Mazda points leader, Peter Dempsey will be changing teams for the remainder of the season. It has been fairly obvious that Dempsey has been struggling to come up with the necessary funds to run this season with AIM Autosport... as he has skipped numerous test days and pre-testing on race weekends. Even when he is on track testing, he can usually be found running on old tires that other drivers have discarded.

Juncos Racing has decided to give the Irishman a shot to continue his efforts and fight for the championship. He has signed a deal to run the remainder of the season with the Florida based team. Watch for an official release to be published shortly.

**update** the official release is out now.

Pablo Donoso has signed on with Andersen Racing to run this weekend's Indy Lights race at Iowa Speedway. Donoso has been taking this year race-by-race due to funding issues. Andersen Racing will be the third team to give him a shot this season alone.

Two other Andersen Racing drivers are out for the Iowa Speedway race. Jonathan Summerton has decided not to run this weekend's event, due to funding woes. If he is able to attain proper funding, you can expect him back in the car shortly. If not, he will likely pursue the Atlantic Championship title exclusively. Alistair Jackson wasn't able to re-enter the United States for this weekend's race due to a delay in obtaining proper documents. He plans to return to Andersen Racing and the Indy Lights series for the Watkins Glen event over the Fourth of July.

Over the last few days...there has been a few roster changes in the World Series by Renault. Here is the latest...

Mihai Marinescu has parted ways with Interwetten and intends to run a race or two with RC Motorsport. In the meantime, Interwetten has decided to fill the vacated seat with GP2 driver Michael Herck---who is scheduled to run 3 events with the team.

I've also received a tip---which is just that until I receive official confirmation--- that Formula 3 Euro Series driver Jon Lancaster will be driving for Comtec in this weekend's WSR event at the Hungaroring. If the rumor is true, Lancaster will partner Jon Martin under the team tent. Martin had a real solid debut for the team at Monaco--where he improved 8 positions--earning the hard charger award.

Brian Graham Racing has signed Mikhail Goikhberg for this weekend's F2000 Championship stop at Mosport. The Russian driver will be running both the Ontario Formula Ford Championship as well as the F2000 Championship. The signing came at the last minute after Goikhberg completed 175 miles in a BGR F2000 car---earlier this week.

The 22-year-old race driver is currently balancing his racing duties with his studies as he is a mathematics major at the University of Waterloo-Ontario. His previous experience includes Skip Barber regional competition. This year his focus has been on the Ontario Formula Ford Challenge series, where he sits 8th in the points championship.

I'm sure this will be a rather large jump for Mikhail as he is used to driving cars without much (or any) downforce--- but the extensive test with BGR earlier this week in a F2000 Championship car should prove beneficial. The Ontario Formula Ford Challenge raced at Mosport early this year for their season opener, so he has plenty of track time at Mosport, which should aide his performance.
(photo: Teresa Matkovich)

Over the last few months, I've had several people ask me about the status of last year's Indy Lights runner-up; Richard Antinucci. Finally, after a few months of asking around, I have some good news to relay back. The 28-year-old race driver will make his IndyCar debut with Team 3G at Watkins Glen International on July 5th for the Camping World Grand Prix.

Last year, while running in the Indy Lights series, Antinucci finished inside the top-ten in 68.8% of his race starts. Thanks to his consistent finishes, he topped the Eformulacarnews junior formula driver rankings to start the 2009 season.

His first test with Team 3G will take place tomorrow at The Glen. In less than 24-hours, Antinucci will no longer be considered a junior formula pilot. Job well done.
(photo: www.richardantinucci.net)