Lapierre and Berthon to test for Team Aguri at Donington Park next week - MotorSportsTalk

Nicolas Lapierre and Nathanael Berthon will take part in next week’s FIA Formula E test at Donington Park for Team Aguri.

The Japanese team enjoyed a successful outing at the first public pre-season test earlier this week as Salvador Duran and Tom Dillmann shared driving duties.

However, neither driver will take part in next week’s second test at Donington Park, and will instead be replaced by Lapierre and Berthon, as confirmed to MotorSportsTalk by a team spokesperson on Friday.

Lapierre has enjoyed a successful career in sportscars over the past eight years since turning his attention away from single seaters, racing for Toyota’s LMP1 team between 2012 and 2014.

The Frenchman left the team last fall before joining KCMG in LMP2, with whom he played a part in one of the most dominant class victories in recent memory at Le Mans this year.

Now, Lapierre will get a chance to sample a Formula E car for the first time with Team Aguri, testing alongside fellow countryman Berthon.

Berthon currently races in GP2 with Team Lazarus, and also raced at Le Mans earlier this year with Murphy Prototypes, finishing fifth in the LMP2 class.

Very happy to announce Im gonna test with @TeamAguri @FIAformulaE @DoningtonParkUK Tuesday! Now off from UK to Monaco pic.twitter.com/yarsfBKwxy

— Nathanael Berthon (@NatBerthon) August 14, 2015

MotorSportsTalk understands that although both drivers are testing for Team Aguri, the team is yet to make any firm decision about its drive line-up for season two, which starts in Beijing on October 17.

Duran and Dillmann both put in impressive displays at Donington Park earlier this week, whilst Sakon Yamamoto is also known to still have ties with the Japanese team and is set to take part in a show run later this month.

The second Formula E pre-season test takes place at Donington Park on August 17 and 18.

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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.”