Saavedra looking forward to St. Pete

What can Saavedra do at St. Petersberg?

Sebastian Saavedra, the talented young driver from Colombia, will make his KV AFS Racing debut this weekend at the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, March 28-30, 2014 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Saavedra will be behind the wheel of the No. 17 KV AFS Racing Chevrolet/Dallara/Firestone car when he makes his third start on the challenging 1.8-mile, 14-turn St. Petersburg temporary street circuit this weekend. It will be his first race with KV AFS, although he has had a long association with AFS Racing, after agreeing to drive for the team in February of this year.

"I am really excited to get the season started," Saavedra said. "I just want to thank all my sponsors, especially Automatic Fire Sprinklers and the entire country of Colombia as well as all my supporters for making this possible. I know we missed some of the off-season testing, but I think the team and I have worked hard with the time we had together and I am looking forward to starting the season strong."

KV AFS partner Gary Peterson said, "I'm looking forward to being on track for this event. I've stayed involved in Sebastian's career since our first season together in the FIL. We've become close over the years and it was difficult not being able to find a place with him at Andretti. I'm thankful for this opportunity with KV Racing Technology and I'm looking forward to a great season.''

Sebastian Saavedra

Photo by: Chris Owens

"I am very pleased with the progress the team and Sebastian have made in just a few weeks," said General Manager Steve Moore. "The engineering staff, crew and Seb have put in a lot of time and effort at the track and at the shop. Now it is time to see how we stack up against the rest of the field."

Saavedra, 23, has been one of the youngest drivers in nearly every series he has raced. The native of Bogotá, Colombia began his career driving go-karts at age 10 throughout South America and Europe. Saavedra moved into cars in 2006 competing in Formula BMW USA, Formula BMW ADAC and Formula BMW Asia in 2007. In 2008, he finished second in ATS Formula 3 Cup with three wins, four poles and eight podium finishes. Saavedra competed in the Firestone Indy Lights Series in 2009 and won "Rookie of the Year" honors on the strength of a third place showing in the championship winning two races. He placed eighth in the Indy Lights Series in 2010 and also made his first IndyCar start at the Indianapolis 500. Saavedra made two IndyCar starts in 2010, 14 IndyCar in 2011, three more in 2012 and drove the full season of 19 races in 2013. In two previous races at St. Petersburg, Saavedra has a best starting position of ninth in 2013 and a best finish of 13th in 2011.

KV AFS Racing