Tomas Scheckter will return to the IZOD IndyCar Series with Conquest Racing at Chicagoland this weekend. The 29-year-old South African has made 113 IndyCar starts since 2002 for seven different teams, and will add an eighth when he replaces Francesco Dracone at Conquest.
"I'm very happy to be joining Conquest," said Scheckter who has raced four times this year for Dreyer & Reinbold. "Eric [Bachelart] and I have been talking for quite a while and when this opportunity came up, I immediately took advantage of it.
"I know some of the guys on the team from having worked with them in the past and I am really looking forward to working with them again, as well as with everyone else. We're coming together a little bit at the last minute, but I am confident we can come out with a good result. There are a lot of good people on this team.
"I'm pretty excited to be getting back in an Indy car at Chicagoland – I really like that track. I've led laps there and, last season, I had the quickest lap of the race. There's a lot of side-by-side racing and it's always fun to be racing at night. I can't wait."
Conquest owner Eric Bachelart added: "Tomas and I have been in contact for quite some time and it is great to finally be able to put a deal together. He brings so much experience to the team. We're really excited to have the chance to work with him.
"He will also be a good pairing for Bertrand [Baguette] and will be able to help him develop his oval racing skills. I'm looking forward to a good weekend from both drivers."
Italian F3 veteran Dracone replaced Mario Romancini for the last two road races, but was well off the pace in both, qualifying last at Infineon Raceway last weekend.