Photo Credit: Chris Jones/IndyCar
Zachary Claman De Melo will compete for Dale Coyne Racing in the No. 19 Paysafe Honda in the IndyCar Grand Prix while Pietro Fittipaldi continues to recover following a massive accident at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
Fittipaldi was originally scheduled to compete at both the Indianapolis road course and the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, but the young Brazilian driver has been sidelined with two broken legs. He’s expected to also miss another scheduled start at Texas Motor Speedway. A replacement driver for those races has yet to be announced.
Claman De Melo and Fittipaldi share the No. 19 seat. The Canadian driver has already started three races this season, but his next start wasn’t supposed to be until the Detroit Grand Prix in June.
“I’m extremely excited to get to race at the INDYCAR Grand Prix this weekend aboard the #19 Paysafe car, but I’m sad that it’s under these circumstances. My thoughts are first and foremost with Pietro (Fittipaldi), you never want to see that happen to a competitor, much less a teammate,” Claman De Melo said in a Dale Coyne press release.
“Getting to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is always special. I enjoyed racing there in Indy Lights and I can’t wait to now get a chance to drive there aboard an Indy car. It’s a fun track with some good passing opportunities which means it should be a good show for the fans. Hopefully we can turn our luck around and come out of the weekend with a good result.”
Claman De Melo has four previous Indy Lights starts at the Indy road course. He has a best finish of second last season.
