2018 will finally see an Austrian driver return to the Verizon IndyCar Series.
Rene Binder have signed with the Juncos Racing team for 4 races in 2018, and he will be the first Austrian in IndyCar since Hubert Stromberger back in 1995!
Binder raced in the World Series Formula V8 in 2017, where he finished fourth in the Championship. He took four wins during the season, and only needed three more points to get a Championship trophy. That was his best season so far, since making his debut i racing cars back in 2009.
He will share car #32 with the defending Indy Lights Champion, Kyle Kaiser. Kaiser has driven four seasons for the team in the junior ranks, and will have four starts in 2018 as well.
Rene Binder will start the season in St. Petersburg, before he will hand the car over to Kaiser, who will drive at Phoenix Raceway and Long Beach. Binder will be back in the car for one weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, before Kaiser will have the car for the entire month of May, for both Indianapolis races. The team will take a small break from IndyCar (at least for now), before they will return in July with Binder on the streets of Toronto and the Mid-Ohio Sports Cars Course.
That leaves potential nine races left for one or several drivers, if they can bring some money, or if either Kaiser or Binder find a few more sponsors.
The Juncos Racing team had their first start in the IndyCar 2017, with Spencer Pigot and Sebastian Saavedra both racing the Indy 500. That was their only race of the year. So far there are eight races on the schedule for 2018, before a full season is planned in 2019.
The Verizon IndyCar Series starts on 11 March in the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.