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Next batch of Indy Lights drivers set to test at Sonoma

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Chris Owens 2016

Zach Veach, Santiago Urrutia and Andre Negrao are the next three Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires drivers who will have a chance to make their maiden IndyCar tests this year as part of an Indy Lights Driver Test day.

Belardi Auto Racing’s Veach will score a long-awaited first test in one of Ed Carpenter Racing’s Chevrolets (is listed in Josef Newgarden’s car), while Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian teammates Urrutia and Negrao are set to share James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Aleshin’s Hondas, respectively.

Veach told NBC Sports of the opportunity he “feels like a kid the night before Christmas,” while the SPM twins make a natural step up.

The test occurs September 8 at Sonoma Raceway, in preparation for the Verizon IndyCar Series season finale there September 18.

Meanwhile the three of them will complete their running at Sonoma and then head south to Monterey, where the Indy Lights finale takes place as part of an all-Mazda weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Urrutia currently leads that championship heading into the penultimate round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca from Sept. 9-11. The Uruguayan seeks his second straight title on the Mazda Road to Indy after winning the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires last year.

They also join this list of Indy Lights drivers or graduates, who’ve tested an IndyCar this year:


  • Jack Harvey (2015), Zachary Claman De Melo, SPM, Mid-Ohio
  • Felix Rosenqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Mid-Ohio
  • RC Enerson, Dale Coyne Racing, Mid-Ohio (debuted for race team the next week)
  • Ed Jones, RLL Racing, Watkins Glen
  • Dean Stoneman, Dalton Kellett, Shelby Blackstock, Andretti Autosport, Watkins Glen
  • Santiago Urrutia, Andre Negrao, SPM, Sonoma
  • Zach Veach, ECR, Sonoma

It leaves only Felix Serralles, Kyle Kaiser and Neil Alberico as the only full-season drivers in Indy Lights this year who have not had a run in an IndyCar as yet.

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