Servia To RLLR, Hawksworth To Herta

The 2014 IndyCar Series grid is beginning to take shape with announcements today from both Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Bryan Herta Autosport.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing formally confirmed Oriol Servia as the team's second entry alongside Graham Rahal in 2014. Servia has been confirmed for the four race span from Long Beach through the Indianapolis 500 with Barber and the Indy road course sandwiched between.

"Continuity is a very important part of success in any racing team,” said Servia. “By my moving to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, this happens at many different levels. On the team side, in 2009 we did the 500 together as a one-off race. We were running very strong until we had a fuel pump fail on us but that one race left us with a sensation that we could do great things together. That same year I did a short stint at Newman/Haas where my teammate was Graham (Rahal) and that also started a great chemistry between us that translated to results on track where we finished third and fourth in the last race we ran.

“There are a lot of people in the team that I have worked in the past. Actually John Dick, one of the latest arrivals to the team, was my race engineer in my rookie year at PPI, and on and on.  There are enough synergies within the team that make me feel positive that even if we may be starting a little late, we will hit the road running. I can't wait to start and want to thank Bobby Rahal, Mike Lanigan and David Letterman for putting this program together."

The addition of more races to the Servia/RLLR calendar could be added if sponsorship is found.
Later in the day Bryan Herta Autosport announced Indy Lights driver Jack Hawksworth to the teams full-time #98 entry.

Hawksworth, who tested this off season with Coyne, RLLR in September and Herta's organization in February, was alongside several drivers competing for the open seat including favorites JR Hildebrand and Luca Filippi.

"Quite frankly, Jack really impressed us with a very strong test in Sebring last month," said team owner, Bryan Herta. "He has had success at every level he has competed in to date and we believe he has the skills to maintain that going into the IndyCar series. Jack is well aware of the level of competition he is stepping into and we look forward to the season ahead."

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