Kevin Magnussen will make his IndyCar series debut this weekend at Road America with Arrow McLaren SP, filling in for Felix Rosenqvist.
Rosenqvist suffered a violent crash in the first race of the Detroit GP double header on Saturday, requiring a trip to the hospital for further evaluation.
Although he was released the next day, and did not appear to have any more serious injuries than some lingering soreness, he has not yet been cleared to compete.
Magnussen, who spent seven years in Formula 1, will get his first taste of an IndyCar as a team-mate to the most recent race winner Pato O’Ward.
The Danish driver was actually in Detroit when Rosenqvist suffered his accident, as the event was a shared weekend with the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship.
Magnussen took victory in the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac prototype, scoring his first win in his maiden season in the series. Magnussen has been released on a temporary basis by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive for Arrow McLaren SP.
He also has a previous relationship with McLaren, making 19 starts for the McLaren Formula 1 team in 2014, which included a career-best finish of second at the Australian Grand Prix.
The race in Road America will serve as a reunion of sorts for Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, who were team-mates at Haas in Formula 1 from 2017 through 2020.
Both drivers were seen laughing together in Detroit, and now will get a chance to compete against each other on track once again, with Grosjean running road and street courses for Dale Coyne Racing.
Oliver Askew, who filled in for Rosenqvist for Sunday’s race, was not available as he has been called on to replace Rinus VeeKay at Ed Carpenter Racing, in the wake of the Dutch youngster fracturing his collarbone in a cycle accident.
The first on-track action for Magnussen will be Friday afternoon at 5:00 PM Eastern time for a 45-minute practice session.
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