Oriol Servia will compete in the 100th Indianapolis 500 this May after securing the third seat at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team alongside James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Aleshin.
The veteran Spaniard has a best finish of fourth at Indianapolis back in 2012, and this will be his eighth attempt at the legendary race, where he will pilot the #77 Schmidt Peterson with Marotti Racing entry.
“I am very pleased to have this opportunity at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports,” said Servia. “This year’s Indianapolis 500, the 100th running, will be the most special in our era, maybe of all time, and I wanted to make sure I was in a team that can give me a program to contend for the win. I have no doubt that together with SPM and Honda, we will at least do that.
“The whole team, including James, my teammate in 2011, and Mikhail, are ultimate professionals and I can’t wait to start doing laps at the most special track in the world in preparation for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Team owner Sam Schmidt is happy to be able to field Servia in the Indy 500 this year, and insists the 1999 Indy Lights champion is highly regarded in the Verizon IndyCar Series paddock.
“We’ve competed against Oriol for several years now and have always looked for an opportunity to get him in one of our SPM entries,” said Schmidt. “He is a true professional and is highly respected within the motorsports community.
“Interestingly enough, we shared the front row with him in 2011 and know that he can get the job done for all of our team partners.”
