Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Toby Sowery will join the established Belardi Auto Racing outfit for his second season in Indy Lights, partnering Indy Pro 2000 champion Rasmus Lindh.
Sowery raced with HMD Motorsports in conjunction with Team Pelfrey throughout 2019 on his full-time return to single-seaters, and claimed third in the points after taking his first win at Portland.
The former GT racer had a strong end to his rookie campaign, picking up five podiums ? including that Portland win ? in the final eight races and was only outscored by the IndyCar-bound Oliver Askew and Rinus VeeKay.
This makes Sowery the highest-placed returning driver from 2019, although HMD?s Santiago Urrutia has twice finished runner-up in the championship.
?I?m super excited to be back competing in Indy Lights,? Sowery said. ?It?s been a long winter since Laguna Seca and I?m pleased to have landed a great position with Belardi.
“I?m confident the team will give me a platform that allows me to focus on my performance.
?I also have a strong team-mate to work with so we should expect to be very competitive. I?d like to thank my sponsors and Brian [Belardi] for making this year possible.”
Belardi himself said: ?We were incredibly excited when we were able to sign Toby for the 2020 season. Last year coming into Indy Lights and being a factor right away definitely caught our attention.
?We have high hopes for Toby this year, and really think he will be a major asset to the team.”
The signing of Sowery brings the Indy Lights grid up to nine cars with less than a week before the season opener in St. Petersburg. Brazilian driver Lucas Kohl is expected to return to the series after finishing eighth last year, but has not been linked to a specific team.