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.
| Sebastián Saavedra | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sebastian Saavedra at the 2011 Indy 500 | |||||||
| Nationality |  Colombian | ||||||
| Born | 2 June 1990 Bogotá, Colombia | ||||||
| Racing licence |  FIA Gold
| ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
Racing career
editEarly career
editAfter 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. He was involved in an incident with Sergio Pérez where Saavedra's car ended up on top of Pérez's in round 6 of 2006 Formula BMW ADAC. Both drivers were black flagged and Saavedra was dropped by his team, Eifelland Racing.[1] 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
editIn 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.[2] 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.[3] 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
editSaavedra 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.[4] 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 Indianapolis, 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.
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In 2015, Saavedra joined Chip Ganassi Racing split time in the No. 8 with Sage Karam.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
IMSA career
editIn 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
editAmerican open–wheel racing results
edit(key)
Indy Lights
edit| 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
edit- 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
edit| 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
edit| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Starworks Motorsport | P | Riley Mk XXVI DP | Dinan (BMW) 5.0 L V8 | DAY 17 |
54th | 16 | [15] | ||||||||||
| Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo | SEB 17 |
LBH | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | IMS | ELK | COA | PET | ||||||||
| 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 | [16] | |||
| Oreca 07 | LGA 8 |
PET 12 |
||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | DragonSpeed | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 1 |
SEB | MDO | WGL | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET | 8th | 35 | [17] | |||
| Source:[18] | ||||||||||||||||||
Complete Global RallyCross Championship results
editSupercar
edit| 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
edit- ^ Venkatesh, Tejas (15 May 2023). "When Sergio Perez Almost Lost His Life Due to Erratic Driving From a Competitor". thesportsrush.com. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ 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 Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, 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. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ Malsher, David (13 July 2017). "Aleshin replaced by Saavedra for Toronto". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2018 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra – 2019 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Sebastián Saavedra Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 21 March 2024.