Oilpressure

If anyone tells you they knew Pietro Fittipaldi would be named to the No. 30 car of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLLR), don’t believe them. Most people, including myself, fully expected Juri Vips to be named to the ride.

As I write this on Monday night, I know few details on how the grandson of Formula One World Champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, suddenly ended up in the fulltime seat that became available when Jack Harvey was fired by RLLR last August with three races to go. Although I know few details, I suspect money is involved.

In this age of instant information we live in, racing secrets are tough to keep these days. Roger Penske was able to do it almost thirty years ago, when he surprised the entire racing world by announcing the stock-block pushrod Mercedes that was the class of the field in the 1994 Indianapolis 500. Last month, Chip Ganassi surprised everyone by signing Kyffin Simpson to a fifth car at Chip Ganassi Racing. So two racing secrets kept in two months is something of a rarity.

Pietro Fittipaldi is no stranger to the NTT IndyCar Series. He first appeared in 2018 in a part-time role with Dale Coyne Racing. He raced at Phoenix that spring, and was scheduled to race in the Indianapolis 500 that May, but broke his legs in a World Endurance Championship race at Spa – ending his Indianapolis plans. He recovered later that summer, in time to race the final five races of the IndyCar season for Coyne – with a best finish of ninth at Portland.

After the fiery 2020 Formula One crash at Bahrain involving Romain Grosjean, Fittipaldi was tabbed to replace Grosjean in the final two races of the F1 season – finishing seventeenth and nineteenth respectively. Ironically, when Grosjean joined IndyCar for the non-ovals ion 2021, it was Fittipaldi who ran the ovals for Dale Coyne, including the 2021 Indianapolis 500. Fittipaldi was the fastest rookie qualifier that year, qualifying thirteenth and finishing twenty-fifth. His best result in three oval races (Grosjean decided to run Gateway that season) was a fifteenth at Texas.

Although his finishes and IndyCar and Formula One have not been stellar, Pietro Fittipaldi has raised eyebrows with his raw speed in less-than-stellar equipment. One could argue, however, that Dale Coyne has had faster cars over the past couple of years than the RLLR cars at some of the tracks – especially ovals.

One thing I find interesting is that RLLR is retaining the services for Juri Vips. Apparently he really impressed the team with his speed and overall demeanor, when he drove the No. 30 car in the season finale at Laguna Seca. Bobby Rahal said they would like to try and run a fourth car for some races next season, but they have little or no funding in place for it. It is unclear if a fourth RLLR car will run in several races, a handful of races, one race or no races in 2024. If a fourth car runs in anything besides the Indianapolis 500, I’m wondering where the engine is coming from – especially if Andretti Global runs a fourth car.

Some on social media thought that because this announcement came out of left-field, that it made no sense. I think it makes a lot of sense. The Fittipaldi name carries a lot of weight across the globe. It may not be to the level of Foyt or Andretti, but it’s up there. It’s a name that potential sponsors will know and be more willing to invest in than the names of Vips or Lundgaard. While Christian Lundgaard drives for Hy-Vee and now has a race win to his credit, his name is not known. Neither is Vips.

Fittipaldi also has an Indianapolis 500 start under his belt, while Vips does not. That counts for a lot. Plus, Fittipaldi brings a lot more racing experience to the table. Fittipaldi is also four years older than Vips – 27 versus 23. Not to say that Vips is immature, but that type of age difference with people that young can be significant.

It sounds like RLLR is going to get the best of both worlds. They are retaining the services of the youthful and talented Vips; while signing an experienced driver with a massive name in motorsports that should be very marketable. But how on earth were they able to keep it such a secret?

George Phillips

This entry was posted on October 25, 2023 at 4:05 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.