Sebastián Saavedra

Sebastián Saavedra
Sebastián Saavedra
	Sebastian Saavedra at the 2011 Indy 500
Nationality	Colombian
Born	2 June 1990 (age 31); Bogotá, Colombia
IndyCar Series career
	63 races run over 7 years
Team(s)	No. 17 (Juncos Racing)
Best finish	21st (2013, 2014)
First race	2010 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race	2017 Honda Indy Toronto (Toronto)
Previous series
2009–10, 2012; 2008; 2008; 2007; 2006–2007; 2006–07	Indy Lights; ATS Formel 3 Cup; Austria Formula 3 Cup; Formula BMW Pacific; Formula BMW USA; Formula BMW ADAC
Awards
2009	Indy Lights Rookie of the Year

Sebastián Saavedra (born 2 June 1990) is a Colombian racing driver from Bogotá. In 2014, he drove for KVSH Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series before being replaced by former GP2 Series driver Stefano Coletti.

Racing career[]

Early career[]

After a childhood in karting, Saavedra drove in Formula BMW USA for Gelles Racing, finishing 11th in points. He also drove in two races in Formula BMW ADAC and competed in the Formula BMW World Final, finishing 32nd. In 2007 he switched teams in Formula BMW USA to Eurointernational and captured one win and finished 12th in points despite only competing in 8 of 14 races. He also competed in 6 Formula BMW Asia races capturing 3 wins, two races in Formula BMW ADAC, and finished 4th in the Formula BMW World Final. In 2008 he moved to ATS Formel 3 Cup and finished 2nd in points with 3 wins for HS Technik Motorsport. He also competed in a number of Austria Formula 3 Cup races and finished 9th in points.

Indy Lights and 2010 Indy 500[]

In 2009 he signed to drive in the American Firestone Indy Lights Series in 2009 for defending championship team AGR-AFS Racing alongside teammate J. R. Hildebrand. He captured his first Indy Lights win in the fourth race of the season and the first on an oval, at Kansas Speedway in April. In July he won from the pole on the streets of Toronto.

He returned to the series in 2010 for Bryan Herta Autosport and made his IndyCar Series debut in the 2010 Indianapolis 500 driving for the same team.^[1] Saavedra was on the bubble during most of qualifying during bump day, and crashed during practice laps while waiting for other drivers to attempt to qualify. While he was in the hospital being checked out, and with no working car to attempt to re-qualify, Saavedra appeared out of the race when Tony Kanaan bettered his time knocking him out of the field. However, when both Paul Tracy and Jay Howard withdrew their successful qualifying times and failed to re-qualify (both felt they would be knocked out by other drivers if they did not improve), Saavedra improbably ended up back in position thirty-three and in the race when time ran out for attempts.^[2] Saavedra crashed out in a single car accident on lap 159 and was credited with 23rd place in the race. The following month, Saavedra captured Bryan Herta Autosport's second Indy Lights win in the AvoidTheStork.com 100 at Iowa Speedway.

On 4 September 2010, Saavedra officially terminated his contract with Bryan Herta Autosport due to the team's inability to meet contract standards after a string of car failures and negative results.

IndyCar Series[]

Saavedra at the 2015 Indianapolis 500

Saavedra competed in the IndyCar Series season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway for Conquest Racing. He signed on to return to Conquest for the full 2011 IndyCar Series season in the team's No. 34 car.^[3] Driving for the single-car Conquest team, Saavedra's best finish was eleventh in the 2011 São Paulo Indy 300. Saavedra failed to qualify for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 while his one-off teammate Pippa Mann qualified for the race. He was replaced in the Conquest car by João Paulo de Oliveira for the Motegi race and Dillon Battistini at the Kentucky Speedway, but returned to the car for the season finale in Las Vegas, which was cancelled after Dan Wheldon's fatal crash. Saavedra finished 25th in the final championship standings.

For 2012 Saavedra returned to AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport to race a full season in Indy Lights and also drove in the IndyCar Series in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 as well as the series' races at Sonoma Raceway and Auto Club Speedway.

For 2014, Saavedra signed with KV Racing Technology, racing under the KV/AFS banner. In the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianoplis, Saavedra qualified 1st with a time of 01:23.8822. He stalled at the start and was struck by the cars of Carlos Muñoz and Mikhail Aleshin while still stationary. His best result throughout the year was 9th in Long Beach.

In 2015, Saavedra joined Chip Ganassi Racing split time in the No. 8 with Sage Karam.^[4] Saavedra ran the Indy 500 in a fifth car entered by Ganassi with the No. 17. During the race, Saavedra collided with Jack Hawksworth and hit the Turn 4 wall. After bouncing off, his car was hit just in front of the driver's cockpit by Stefano Coletti. Saavedra was unable to leave the accident under his own power; Saavedra's boot had to be cut off to remove him from the car, after which he was carried by the safety team into an ambulance. Saavedra participated in two more races during the season before being released by Ganassi at season end.

For 2017, Saavedra was signed to drive the Indianapolis 500 for the new Juncos Racing team in the No. 17 car.^[5] He placed 15th, matching his career best finish in the 500. Later in the season, Saavedra was signed to drive at Toronto in the No. 7 car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, replacing Mikhail Aleshin for the race weekend.^[6]

IMSA career[]

In 2019, Saavedra participated on International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) 24 Hours of Daytona race, winning the LMP2 class in the #18 DragonSpeed Oreca 07, piloted by Pastor Maldonado, Roberto Gonzalez, Ryan Cullen and himself, overcoming an engine problem which nearly jeopardized his race.

Racing record[]

American open–wheel racing results[]

(key)

Indy Lights[]

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Rank	Points
2009	AGR-AFS Racing	STP1 26	STP2 2	LBH 8	KAN 1	INDY 5	MIL 3	IOW 15	WGL 18	TOR 1	EDM 3	KTY 2	MDO 18	SNM 7	CHI 6	HMS 3	3rd	446
2010	Bryan Herta Autosport	STP 12	ALA 3	LBH 4	INDY 9	IOW 1	WGL 3	TOR 14	EDM 6	MDO 5	SNM 15	CHI 11	KTY	HMS			8th	303
2012	AFS Racing Andretti Autosport	STP 3	ALA 1	LBH 2	INDY 5	DET 6	MIL 2	IOW 13	TOR 2	EDM 2	TRO 9	BAL 10	FON 14				4th	383

IndyCar Series[]

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2010	Bryan Herta Autosport	Dallara	29	Honda	SAO	STP	ALA	LBH	KAN	INDY 23	TXS	IOW	WGL	TOR	EDM	MDO	SNM	CHI	KTY	MOT				33rd	29
2010	Conquest Racing		36																		HMS 16			33rd	29
2011	Conquest Racing		34		STP 13	ALA 26	LBH 14	SAO 11	INDY DNQ	TXS 28	TXS 29	MIL 23	IOW 20	TOR 25	EDM 16	MDO 27	NHM 15	SNM 14	BAL 13	MOT	KTY	LVS¹ C		25th	178
2012	Andretti Autosport	Dallara DW12	17	Chevrolet	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY 26	DET	TXS	MIL	IOW	TOR	EDM	MDO	SNM 15	BAL	FON 21					27th	41
2013	Dragon Racing		6		STP 20	ALA 20	LBH 27	SAO 19	INDY 32	DET 22	DET 10	TXS 14	MIL 13	IOW 19	POC 23	TOR 16	TOR 15	MDO 19	SNM 21	BAL 8	HOU 14	HOU 12	FON 24	21st	236
2014	KV Racing Technology		17		STP 11	LBH 9	ALA 18	IMS 23	INDY 15	DET 14	DET 22	TXS 17	HOU 15	HOU 17	POC 15	IOW 17	TOR 19	TOR 21	MDO 20	MIL 18	SNM 16	FON 17		21st	291
2015	Chip Ganassi Racing		8		STP	NLA	LBH 10	ALA	IMS 17		DET	DET	TXS	TOR 16	FON	MIL	IOW	MDO	POC	SNM 13				25th	95
2015	Chip Ganassi Racing		17							INDY 23														25th	95
2017	Juncos Racing		17		STP	LBH	ALA	PHX	IMS	INDY 15	DET	DET	TXS	ROA	IOW									26th	80
2017	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports		7	Honda												TOR 11	MDO	POC 21	GTW 11	WGL	SNM			26th	80

¹ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Top 10s (Non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
7	8	63	1	0	0	4	0	0

Indianapolis 500[]

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2010	Dallara	Honda	32	23	Bryan Herta Autosport
2011	Dallara	Honda	DNQ		Conquest Racing
2012	Dallara	Chevrolet	24	26	Andretti Autosport/AFS Racing
2013	Dallara	Chevrolet	27	32	Dragon Racing
2014	Dallara	Chevrolet	32	15	KV Racing Technology
2015	Dallara	Chevrolet	28	23	Chip Ganassi Racing
2017	Dallara	Chevrolet	31	15	Juncos Racing

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship[]

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2014	Starworks Motorsport	P	Riley Mk XXVI DP	Dinan (BMW) 5.0 L V8	DAY 17											54th	16
2014	Starworks Motorsport	P	Riley Mk XXVI DP	Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo		SEB 17	LBH	LGA	DET	WGL	MOS	IMS	ELK	COA	PET	54th	16
2018	AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	P	Ligier JS P217	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	DAY 12	SEB 11	LBH 11	MDO 6	DET 8	WGL 9	MOS 9	ELK 13				13th	211
2018	AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	P	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8									LGA 8	PET 12		13th	211
2019	DragonSpeed	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	DAY 1	SEB	MDO	WGL	MOS	ELK	LGA	PET				8th	35

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results[]

Supercar[]

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	GRC	Points
2016	AD Racing	Ford Fiesta ST	PHO1 11	PHO2 11	DAL DNS	DAY1 WD	DAY2 WD	MCAS1	MCAS2 C	DC	AC	SEA	LA1	LA2	20th	3

References[]

^ Bryan Herta Autosport to contest Indy 500, AutoWeek, 24 February 2010, Retrieved 7 March 2010
^ Kanaan crashes again at practice, still makes cut at Indy CBSSports.com 23 May 2010
^ Saavedra Joins Conquest For 2011, Speed, 14 March 2011, Retrieved 15 March 2011
^ Glendenning, Mark (14 April 2015). "Sage Karam, Sebastian Saavedra to share fourth Ganassi Indycar". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
^ "Saavedra confirmed in Juncos' second 500 entry". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
^ Malsher, David (13 July 2017). "Aleshin replaced by Saavedra for Toronto". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 28 July 2017.

External links[]

[1] Bryan Herta Autosport to contest Indy 500, AutoWeek, 24 February 2010, Retrieved 7 March 2010

[2] Kanaan crashes again at practice, still makes cut at Indy CBSSports.com 23 May 2010

[3] Saavedra Joins Conquest For 2011, Speed, 14 March 2011, Retrieved 15 March 2011

[4] Glendenning, Mark (14 April 2015). "Sage Karam, Sebastian Saavedra to share fourth Ganassi Indycar". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 14 April 2015.

[5] "Saavedra confirmed in Juncos' second 500 entry". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.

[6] Malsher, David (13 July 2017). "Aleshin replaced by Saavedra for Toronto". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 28 July 2017.

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