Tagliani out, Hildebrand, Fillipi in at Barracuda Racing
Rumors are circulating that Alex Tagliani has been asked to step down to allow the Bryan Herta/Steve Newey owned team look at two drivers in the #98 entry for the rest of the season.
Alex Tagliani, Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian Honda
Rebecca McKay
Alex Tagliani, the 2011 Indy 500 pole sitter and popular Canadian driver may be on his way out of the IndyCar ranks for the time being, according to reports made by Racer.com
Word is that Tagliani was asked to give up his seat for the six remaining races of the season to give the Bryan Herta/Steve Newey owned team a look at two drivers for next season.
No word has been given as to what the next step is with this rumor, but if it is true, this could spell disaster for Tagliani.
Herta and Newey are looking at J.R. Hildebrand and 2011 GP2 runner up Luca Fillipi as potential young talents to fill a seat fielded by the duo next season. Fillipi is rumored to be testing the Barracuda Racing car at Mid-Ohio ahead of fielding the car for the team during that event. He will be alternating races with Hildebrand from that point out.
Tagliani had a very promising season last year, but with only a pair of tenth places finishes to his name this season, and a team sitting 23rd overall in the entrants standings, the team is looking to ensure a top 20 spot by seasons end.
The French-Canadian driver has 200 open wheel starts to his credit, with a single win at Road America in Champ Car competition in 2004.
With the current state of IndyCar, it doesn't appear that there are any competitive seats open for Tagliani, but proved he wont lie down easily as he helped put together the FAZZT race team in 2010, keeping him in the sport after his Conquest Racing situation ended after Edmonton of the previous year.
More on this developing story as it becomes available.
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments