Motivation for Luiz Razia? The Long Beach podium staring him in the face

By Tony DiZinnoApr 16, 2014, 8:00 PM EDT
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After two races, perhaps one of the early surprises in this year’s Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship is that the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports trio has just one combined podium between them (Jack Harvey, third at St. Petersburg).

Luiz Razia, who entered the field as one of the top preseason championship contenders given his GP2 experience and near-F1 race opportunity, has some personal bulletin board material to motivate him to do better. The 25-year-old Brazilian has finished fifth in both races.

That’s the Long Beach podium of Gabby Chaves, Zach Veach and Matthew Brabham, who thus far have had a leg up on the SPM quartet. Schmidt’s team has won the last four Indy Lights championships.

Gabby Chaves to sub for Joao Barbosa at Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen

Photo: IndyCar
By Kyle LavigneJun 18, 2018, 9:02 PM EDT
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Gabby Chaves is set to return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Watkins Glen International later this month.

The Columbian-American driver, who last competed in IMSA in 2016 – with the DeltaWing outfit – will sub for the injured Joao Barbosa – he hurt his wrist in a cycling accident earlier in June – in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

Chaves will partner Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi in the No. 5 Cadillac.

Chaves expressed gratitude for being asked to fill in, but kept his enthusiasm muted, noting that he is getting the opportunity ultimately because another driver got hurt.

“The first thing is of course that you never want to have an opportunity because someone got hurt, so this is an unfortunate circumstance with Joao having his injury,”said Chaves. “But I appreciate the opportunity to join the championship-leading team. Mustang Sampling Racing has had a strong start this year and hopefully I can help the team continue to have those kinds of results.”

Chaves added, “I love Watkins Glen, it is a great track and I am looking forward to racing the Cadillac Prototype there. I’m excited to be going back to endurance racing. With different classes all racing at the same time, there is a lot for the driver to deal with as you work through traffic. So I am looking forward to racing at the Glen again, and I really appreciate this opportunity with Mustang Sampling Racing.”

Chaves’ most recent IMSA event was the 2016 Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, when he finished seventh in the Prototype class.

The No. 5 Action Express Cadillac currently sits tied with the sister No. 31 Whelen Engineer Racing Cadillac of Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr atop the IMSA standings, though Barbosa’s hopes of a driver’s championship are set to take an enormous hit with him missing Watkins Glen.

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