Urrutia returns to Indy Lights with HMD Motorsports
Santiago Urrutia, who finished top three in all three seasons in which he raced Indy Lights, is returning to the category for a fourth shot at the title after a year in touring cars.
TCR media
The 2015 Pro Mazda (now Indy Pro 2000) champion spent last year in TCR Europe driving a WRT-run Audi RS3 LMS and adapted quickly to touring cars to finish third in the standings as the best Audi runner.
However, HMD Motorsports, which has taken over Team Pelfrey, has signed Urrutia to partner David Malukas this season, and is hoping to run a third car for Toby Sowery who in 2019 raced under the Team Pelfrey HMD Motorsports banner and won at Portland.
Urrutia finished second in the 2016 Lights championship with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and then second and third in ’17 and ’18 piloting a Belardi Auto Racing entry. He has amassed eight wins and five pole positions across his three Lights seasons.
The 23-year-old Uruguayan said: “I have worked extremely hard to be back in the Indy Lights paddock as my ultimate goal is IndyCar. The HMD Motorsports team is on the rise and in my opinion, a major threat for the championship.
“I am happy to be reunited with my engineer from the past, Tim Neff, and working with David Malukas. I can’t wait to get the season started.”
As well as Urrutia and Malukas, other Lights drivers confirmed for this season include 2019 Pro Mazda champion Kyle Kirkwood at Andretti Autosport where he will join team incumbent Robert Megennis, while Nikita Lastochkin has signed for Exclusive Autosport.
Singapore teenager Danial Frost, who finished fifth in Indy Pro 2000 last year, is likely to race in a third Andretti car, while Sweden’s Rasmus Lindh, who ran Kirkwood very close for the IP2000 title, is currently the subject of a tug-of-love battle between Andretti and Belardi.
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