Conor Daly confirmed for full season of GP2 with Lazarus - MotorSportsTalk

Conor Daly has been confirmed for a full season of GP2, with the same Venezuela GP Lazarus squad he has tested and raced the opening round of the season with.

The 22-year-old American spent the winter determining whether another season in Europe or a full-season in North America would be his next career step after racing the last three seasons in GP3, and also dovetailing with some other part-time open-wheel opportunities.

Unfortunately for Daly, options for both a full Verizon IndyCar Series season or even a month of May program dried up, due to the nature of requiring a sizable budget for opportunities. Thus when Lazarus came calling late this year to confirm he’d be testing for them at Abu Dhabi, GP2 suddenly became an option.

This officially confirms Daly alongside Alexander Rossi as the two Americans with full-season programs in GP2.

“This has been a long winter of uncertainty for me, but I am committed on my path to Formula One,” Daly said via a team release. “GP2 is where I want to be right now, and the Lazarus team really has a great group of people. We have learned a lot so far this season and have more work to do, but I will give everything to the team to help achieve a great result.”

Added team principal Nicolo Gaglian, “We are delighted to have reached an agreement for this season with Conor Daly, a driver we have followed in recent years in GP3 and that has now thoroughly impressed when he got behind the wheel of our GP2 test in Abu Dhabi. It is a pleasure for us to be able to get on track an US driver: Conor, despite having little experience with the GP2 car, knows the circuits having raced three seasons in GP3. He’s a talented driver and we hope to reach good results together.”

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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.”