INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Christian Lundgaard will leave European racing and switch to IndyCar next season in a third seat for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
The Danish driver is a member of the Alpine Formula One team’s junior program and made his IndyCar debut in August on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He qualified fourth, led two laps and finished 12th while battling food poisoning.
The 20-year-old was signed Wednesday to a multi-year deal to drive the No. 30 Honda in a fulltime seat. He will be teammates with Graham Rahal and Jack Harvey, who was named last week as the driver for an expanded third RLL entry.
“I was very much open minded when I raced at Indianapolis in August and the experience then only grew my hunger to give it another go, so to have the opportunity as a full-time professional racing driver is a privilege,“ Lundgaard said in a statement. “Of course, this will be a completely new challenge for me, especially with oval racing, which I’ve never done before. I’d like to think I’m a fast learner, so taking this on is going to be an awesome experience.“
Lundgaard currently ranks 11th in the FIA Formula 2 championship. He has had little opportunity to advance into an F1 seat.
