Nelson Piquet Jr. returns to roots, will run Pau F3 with Carlin - MotorSportsTalk

Nelson Piquet Jr. has made waves for his diversity in recent years – the 2014-2015 FIA Formula E champion has also made waves in Red Bull Global Rallycross, NASCAR, Indy Lights and now in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Rebellion Racing in the intervening time period since his year and a half in Formula 1.

Now though, at least for one weekend, he’s returning to his roots – Formula 3 in a one-off with Carlin.

Piquet is going to be in one of Carlin’s four F3 cars at the FIA Formula 3 European Championship round at Pau to provide expert feedback and advice to the team’s three regulars, Ryan Tveter, Alessio Lorandi and Peter Li. If schedules and his entry is permitted, he’ll also run the legendary Macau Grand Prix with Carlin later this year.

He also deputized for Max Chilton at last year’s Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires races in Toronto with Carlin, while Chilton was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Nissan.

Piquet won the 2004 British Formula 3 championship with Piquet Sports and was an F3 star before heading to GP2 and then into F1.

“I’m really excited to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 3 car, which holds so many great memories for me,” Piquet said in a release.

“I had a great time working with Carlin in the Indy Lights car in Toronto last year, and I’m happy to help the team again this weekend in Pau. Any experience gained on street circuits is beneficial for my Formula E campaign and I relish the challenge of adapting to another category this season.”

Team principal Trevor Carlin added, “Nelson is a real racer. He’s unafraid of competition at any level and is reminiscent of the era of drivers like Jim Clark who would take part in races from various categories, just for the love of racing.

“Nelson really impressed the team last season when he jumped into an unfamiliar Indy Lights car and put the car on pole on a track he had never visited before. His championship winning credentials in Formula E perfectly reflect his talent on street circuits. We believe he will be a great asset to the team and our young drivers this weekend and we look forward to working with him in Pau and hopefully again in Macau later this year.”

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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.”