Luca Ghiotto lands in IndyCar: debut at Barber with Dale Coyne

Another Italian lands in the United States. Luca Ghiotto, who recently participated in the first round of the Le Mans European Championship with Inter Europol Competition, will make the leap to the New World, where in the coming weeks he will take to the track for the IndyCar championship.

After the news relating to Prema's debut in IndyCar starting from 2025, another Italian touch is now added in the top American single-seater series, with the return of an Italian driver. Ghiotto will in fact race at the wheel of one of the Dale Coyne Racing team cars for the next two events scheduled on the road circuits of Barber, Alabama, and Indianapolis.

For the 29-year-old from Vicenza it is not only his absolute debut in IndyCar, but also his return to single-seaters. After fighting until the end in 2015 for the GP3 title against Esteban Ocon, Ghiotto played five seasons in Formula 2 from 2016 to 2020, obtaining a total of seven victories. He also recently served as a test and simulator driver for the Nissan Formual E team in 2022-23, also taking part in a rookie session at the Berlin tests.

In addition to taking the reins of Honda no. 51 for Dale Coyne Racing this weekend at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course in Birmingham, Alabama, Ghiotto will also drive in the next round at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on May 10-11.

“I'm excited to make my NTT IndyCar Series debut this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park,” said Ghiotto, who met with the Chicago team earlier in the week.

“I've spent most of my career abroad, but I've always been intrigued and eager to try IndyCar. It will be the first time I've driven this car and the first time at this circuit, so there's a steep learning curve ahead of me and It's a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.”

#69 G-Drive Racing By APR Oreca LMP2 07: John Falb, James Allen, Luca Ghiotto, Tijmen van der Helm

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Ghiotto was also a test and reserve driver for the Williams Formula 1 team in 2017. Furthermore, this is not his first experience in the United States, because he took part in the 24h of Daytona with G-Drive, although it is clearly a championship very different from the IndyCar one.

“We know it's not going to be an easy first race for Luca, jumping into the car like this without any kind of testing,” team owner Dale Coyne said.

“That said, he has a lot of experience in different types of racing cars and has proven himself over the years. We can't wait to see what he can do in the next two races and we know he will bring experience and knowledge to the team.” .