Photo Credit: Kreistina Blinova
It was announced on October 11 that former IndyCar Series Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan would be returning to Chip Ganassi Racing Teams with a multi-year deal. Also returning will be NTT DATA as the primary sponsor on the No. 10 Honda. This will be Kanaan’s fourth season with CGRT.
“We are very happy to re-sign Tony to drive the No. 10 for us, but are just as pleased to bring a great partner like NTT DATA back to the team,” team owner Chip Ganassi stated. “Tony has played a strong role as one of the leaders of this team both on and off the track and we feel fortunate to have him back. NTT DATA has proved to be a fantastic partner in many different aspects of our organization. They are not only on our cars but they have also used their technological expertise to help in numerous other aspects of the race team. They have been with us for the last four years and we look forward to strengthening our relationship with them for years to come.”
Kanaan, who won the IndyCar Series championship back in 2004 along with the Indy 500 in 2013, scored his first win for CGRT in 2014 during the series ending race at Auto Club Speedway. He will continue to drive the legendary No. 10 car, a car that has won 20 races between Kanaan, Dario Franchitt (13) as well as the late Dan Wheldon (6) since 2006.
“I’m thrilled to be back with Chip and NTT DATA – it’s been one of the most rewarding partnerships of my career,” Kanaan added. “It’s been great having a partner in NTT DATA that is so committed to making our on-track performance as strong as it can be and I think it’s really shown in our growth together over the last few years. Our 2016 season was strong, but our results didn’t always reflect our performance and we definitely have some unfinished business heading into 2017.”
NTT DATA serves as the official IT services for CGRT; they began their partnership with them in 2013 during the Indianapolis 500 giving their support to drivers Charlie Kimball, Ryan Briscoe as well as Kanaan in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
They are a global IT service provider and have developed a technology that people can wear called Hitoe; Kanaan wears this in the car as well as out. The device measures many physiological traits like (Heart rate, grip strength, etc.) All data from the device is then transferred back to the team to be analyzed in real time while Kanaan is on-track, which allows them to understand not only the car but the driver as well.
“We are really excited to be heading into our fifth year of partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing Teams,” said John McCain, CEO, NTT DATA, Inc. “We’ve enjoyed being not just a sponsor on the car, but an actual partner in the race program with our technical contributions to the team. It’s been great for us to be able to share the race program with our clients and employees and I think it’s safe to say we’ve created quite a few race fans over the last few years. We’re really looking forward to having Tony back in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda and we can’t wait to see him up on the podium next year.
