Formula Renault 3.5 veteran Carlos Huertas to test for Panther - MotorSportsTalk

Panther Racing has announced that Colombian Formula Renault 3.5 racer Carlos Huertas will be behind the wheel of their No. 4 Chevrolet (pictured, from last year) during Friday’s Chevy manufacturer test at Sebring International Raceway in Florida.

Huertas, 22, earned his first career win in FR3.5 last season at Motorland Aragon in Spain en route to a 14th place finish in the 2013 championship for Carlin Motorsport. He first competed in the category in 2012.

The Bogota native has also raced in Formula BMW and British Formula Three.

“This is an awesome opportunity for me, and Panther Racing is a quality team,” Huertas said in a team release. “It’s been good to get to know the crew, and we’ve been working hard to prepare for Friday. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and ready to get out on track.”

In his own thoughts, team owner John Barnes said that Huertas carried “a lot of potential.”

“He’s been impressive racing [Formula Renault 3.5] over the past couple of years,” he said. “We’re looking forward to getting Carlos behind the wheel and seeing what he can do with the No. 4 car.”

The release states that more details regarding Panther’s 2014 program would be made in the weeks ahead.

Panther is coming off a trying season in which it released J.R. Hildebrand (who had been racing with the team since 2011) after the Indianapolis 500 and had Ryan Briscoe, Oriol Servia and Carlos Munoz split the remainder of the year in their No. 4 car.

Briscoe had been expected to take over the Panther ride for 2014 but because of the team’s unresolved sponsorship situation, he instead has become the fourth driver at Chip Ganassi Racing alongside Scott Dixon, Charlie Kimball and Tony Kanaan.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”