IndyCar
Coyne and Vasser Sullivan end partnership
After four years, the joint IndyCar effort between Dale Coyne Racing and Vasser Sullivan Racing has ended.
David Malsher-Lopez
Edited: Dec 11, 2021, 12:47 AM
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Both parties sent out a statement, commenting that “Dale Coyne Racing and Vasser Sullivan Racing have mutually agreed to bring their NTT IndyCar Series partnership to a close.”
Dale Coyne commented: “We’ve had a great and successful time with our partners at Vasser Sullivan Racing and we appreciate everything Jimmy and Sulli have done and brought to the team and our #18 entry.
“We’re grateful for these last four seasons with them. We understand that they want to focus on their sportscar endeavors, and we wish them continued success with their factory Lexus deal and the best of luck in their future projects.”
A joint statement from 1996 Indy car champion Jimmy Vasser and his partner James ‘Sulli’ Sullivan read as follows: “Vasser Sullivan Racing wants to thank Dale for his partnership over the last four seasons.
“We reaffirm our desire to compete in the NTT IndyCar Series and wish Dale and the Dale Coyne Racing team the best of luck in the future.”
Coyne confirmed this week that two-time Indy 500 champion Takuma Sato will be replacing Romain Grosjean in the #51 Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing-Honda, while Motorsport.com understands that the #18 entry, to be driven by David Malukas, will be called Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports.
Vasser Sullivan Racing, meanwhile, will campaign two Lexus RC Fs for a fourth straight year, but this time with one in GTD Pro, and one in GTD.
The Coyne-Vasser Sullivan partnership formed in time for the start of the 2018 season and saw Sebastien Bourdais win first time out at St. Petersburg, and take pole at Phoenix. The four-time champ was consistent enough throughout the season to eventually finish seventh in the championship.
The following year, he came home 11th in points, before he was dropped when Honda ended its support for the #18, and Bourdais’ erstwhile teammate Santino Ferrucci shifted across to replace him. He would take 13th in points, but moved to NASCAR in 2021, with Ed Jones taking over the reins of the SealMaster-backed car.
Jones was sporadically fast, but his cause wasn’t helped by peculiar reliability issues and bad pitstops, and he finished the season only 19th in points.
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