Two-time Indy Lights runner-up Jack Harvey has set his sights on securing a seat with either Dale Coyne Racing or Bryan Herta Autosport for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.
Harvey lost out to Gabby Chaves on a tiebreaker for the Indy Lights title in 2014 before losing to Spencer Pigot at the final round last year, missing out on an assured seat in IndyCar on both occasions.
However, Harvey has put these disappointments behind him and is now fully focused on ensuring he has a place on the grid for the season opener in St. Petersburg on March 13.
“You can look through the grid and realise who’s not signed drivers yet,” Harvey told MotorSportsTalk earlier this month. “I’ve had conversations with Dale and I get on really well with Bryan, he’s been a great guy who’s helping me talk to some of my sponsors.
“We’re hopeful that something could happen with one of them. I know where I would like to end up. I’d like to be on the IndyCar grid, that’s the priority, but if I could do it with one guy in particular that would be very good.”
Harvey had been close to stepping up into IndyCar with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, the team he raced for in Indy Lights, only for Mikhail Aleshin to trump his offer and take the seat.
“I thought we were looking quite good for the seat, then I got a call from Sam and some of the team members like ‘hey… you know, Mikhail’s talking to us’,” Harvey explained.
“I knew he had been, but it seemed like his conversations seemed to pick up and I thought… I can’t say what I actually said! I was like… OK, well, what do I need to do? I think it had already not necessarily slipped away because we were still talking to them and trying to agree the budget.
“I think Mikhail came in with a sizeable amount more than we did, but I had a great two years with everyone at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.”
Should an IndyCar seat prove to be out of Harvey’s reach, he is open to a move into endurance racing for 2016.
“If we can’t get a drive, then I think the next best thing would be WEC, obviously,” Harvey said. “Le Mans would be great to do, or something in IMSA because I’ve really enjoyed America and I’d like to continue racing out there.
“The beauty is that if I can’t get into IndyCar then all three of those programmes could run parallel together. Definitely options, a couple of things we could exercise quite quickly if I needed to.”
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