Oliver Webb, a 20-year-old Englishman, joins Sam Schmidt Motorsports for the 2012 Indy Lights season as the team's second announced driver. The team confirmed Star Mazda champion Tristan Vautier in November.
Webb made three Indy Lights starts for Jensen MotorSport in 2011, finishing on the podium on his debut in Edmonton. He made his first oval start at the Las Vegas season finale, and tested for Schmidt during the Mazda Road to Indy Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in October.
His car number has not been determined, but he tested both Josef Newgarden's championship-winning No. 11 car as well as the team's sister No. 3 entry at the IMS test. Vautier has been confirmed to the team's No. 77 entry which Road to Indy ladder winners Conor Daly and Bryan Clauson drove in 2011. Clauson repeated his USAC National Championship and could be in line for a return to Schmidt in an expanded effort, but that is yet to be determined.
Webb's prior experience in the U.K. once he moved up from go-karts to formula cars included several years in Formula BMW, Formula Renault and British Formula 3, the latter year finishing third in the 2010 BF3 championship. He spent 2011 in the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series.