On Wednesday, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced a multi-year agreement with FIA Formula 2 driver Christian Lundgaard.
The 20-year-old from Hedensted, Denmark, will drive the No. 30 Honda, formerly driven by Takuma Sato, who left earlier this month. He is the son of Henrik Lundgaard, a former rally car racer who won the 2000 European Rally Championship.
RLL Co-owner Bobby Rahal on Lundgaard said, “I’m very pleased that Christian will be joining us for the next several years. His performance on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway certainly surprised everybody. For him to do the job he did was tremendous and certainly beyond our expectations.”
Rahal added, “With a little more time under his belt, I think the performance would have been even stronger. Everyone within the team was very pleased, and it created a lot of excitement and positive reactions from the fans on social media and online as well as a positive buzz in the paddock. He’s a great young man who fits well with the team immediately, and we are all excited about what we can do together.”
Lundgaard made his IndyCar debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on August 12th with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He qualified fourth and finished twelfth.
Lundgaard is currently racing in Formula 2 for ART Grand Prix. He is currently in eleventh in point standings. In 2017, Lundgaard won both the F4 Spanish and SMP F4 Championships. In his Formula 2 career, he has 39 starts with one pole, two wins, and nine podium finishes.
Christian Lundgaard on joining RLL full-time said. “I’m very excited to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in INDYCAR. They are a fantastic team who made me feel very welcome earlier this year when I made my debut in the series. They are the perfect choice, and I’m happy to join them on this next chapter in my career. I was very much open-minded when I raced at Indianapolis in August and the experience then only grew my hunger to give it another go, so to have the opportunity as a full-time professional racing driver is a privilege. I can only thank Bobby, Piers, and the team, as well as my investors and Alpine, for putting it all together.”
Lundgaard added, “I’m determined to repay that faith with on-track performances beginning when the season starts in February. Of course, this will be a completely new challenge for me, especially with oval racing, which I’ve never done before. I’d like to think I’m a fast learner, so taking this on is going to be an awesome experience. For now, I’m not setting too many expectations other than working hard and enjoying the racing, and hopefully, the results will follow. For now, though, my focus is on finishing the Formula 2 Championship before fully committing to taking on INDYCAR. I can’t wait for the experience to begin.”
RLL Co-owner Mike Lanigan on Lundgaard said, “The team is very excited to have Christian on board beginning with the 2022 season. With our current lineup with Graham and Jack, I believe the addition of Christian will take our team to the next level in competing for a championship.”
The NTT IndyCar Series starts the 2022 season on February 27th, from the streets of St. Petersburg.
