Luca Filippi working toward IndyCar full-season chance
Luca Filippi |
After impressing again in limited appearances in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series, Italian Luca Filippi is looking to work toward a full-season effort in 2015.
Filippi raced in four 2014 events with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and along with Oriol Servia, were really the only two part-time drivers in the past season. No other drivers ran more than two events beyond the standard 22 full-time cars.
He made the Firestone Fast Six at Houston qualifying fourth, in his first time in an IndyCar since Houston the previous October, some eight months previous.
Now, Filippi told MotorSportsTalk in Austin he is keen on having a full-season opportunity. A year ago, jumping in short notice at Houston and Toronto was less than ideal for him, but it still provided him a showcase after his missing out at the Bryan Herta Autosport seat.
"Ideally, I want to do a full season," he said. "It was nice, but it would be better to have a full buildup before getting in the car."
Filippi seeks to use some of his technical expertise – he has done tire testing and development with Pirelli – to use as the series heads toward a season of new aero kits.
"They have to be careful to not lose the competition (with the aero kits)," Filippi explained. "You have such a great championship and you can just get in, go, and become competitive. The platform is there to succeed right away."
He has spent this year doing the aforementioned Pirelli tire testing and doing F1 commentary work for Europe's Sky Sports. NBC Sports