Former GP2 and Formula 2 driver Rene Binder will make his IndyCar debut in 2018 after signing a four-race deal with Juncos Racing.
The 26-year-old, who raced in the now defunct World Series Formula V8 3.5 series in 2017 where he scored four wins, is scheduled to make his debut at the opening round of the season in St Peterburg on March 11.
Alongside St Petersburg, the Austrian driver will race at Barber, Toronto and Mid-Ohio, and is looking forward to joining IndyCar in 2018 having watched the series since he was young.
“In IndyCar, it looks like every race has its special feeling and every race will be different. I am looking forward to that," he said.
“I am an IndyCar fan for the pure racing aspect. The close competition, the traditional racetracks with bumps and limited runoff areas and, last but not least, the challenging race cars without power steering make it something special.”
With a new universal aero package in 2018 and less downforce, this season's racing machinery puts more emphasis upon the driver, and Binder is particularly excited about this prospect.
“I don’t know the old car, how it was, but the drivers what I read say that the new car is a bit more nervous and [has] less downforce, and is quite difficult to drive and quite challenging. It’s not bad that I don’t know how the old car was. It looks definitely challenging," he said.
“The other thing will be the circuits because the circuits are quite different from the ones that I’ve raced.
"Circuits like St. Petersburg or Long Beach are ones that I’ve always wanted to race because I like that kind of circuit – not a lot of runoff area, it’s bumpy. I really like it more than some of the Formula One circuits,” he added.
As Juncos Racing continues on the road to fielding a full-time team in the IndyCar series having made its debut at the 2017 Indianapolis 500 with Sebastian Saavedra and Spencer Pigot, the signing of Binder marks a key stepping stone for the Indiana-based outfit.
“I think he’s [Binder] going to be good for us and also the series,” said team owner Richard Juncos. “He was deciding whether to stay in Europe and pursue Formula One or coming to IndyCar.
"I think [Binder’s decision] speaks very good about the new IndyCar progress. I think [IndyCar executives] Mark Miles, Jay Frye, all these people are doing a great job. This is a little more proof, I think, of that," he added.
Reigning Indy Lights champion, Kyle Kaiser, will also represent Juncos Racing in 2018 having signed a similar four-race deal with the team last year.
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