Urrutia returns to Indy Lights with Belardi

Urrutia, who earlier this month was voted as Motorsport.com’s top driver across the three series within the Mazda Road To Indy, will join the Brownsburg, Ind.,-based team which scored six wins last season with Zach Veach and Felix Rosenqvist.

“We’re extremely excited to being adding Santi to our stable of drivers for the 2016 season,” commented Brian Belardi, team owner. “We’re coming off a really strong season and our staff is highly motivated to make 2017 even better. Signing a driver of Santi’s caliber will once again put us into the fight for a championship.

“The entire team is fired up with the announcements of Santiago and Shelby and we’re hoping to confirm a third driver early in the new year.”

This third driver is believed to be reigning Pro Mazda champion Aaron Telitz, as first reported by Motorsport.com in early November .

Urrutia, who won four Indy Lights races in 2016 and was the previous year’s Pro Mazda title-winner. However, the team with which he came so close to taking the Lights crown in 2016, Schmidt Peterson Motorsport, has shuttered its junior open-wheel team for the time being.

The 20-year-old Uruguayan said of his new deal: “We have a really strong crew and I believe that we are going to have one of the greatest teams in the paddock. I am very happy to sign with Belardi, as I was fighting with the team’s drivers all year in 2016.

“I have only one goal, and that is to win the championship, and I am going to try to win every race for the team. If I can’t win, I’ll be aiming for seconds and thirds, whatever I need to win the title.

“I have to thank all of my fans, my engineer, my sponsors in Uruguay and I want to thank Brian Belardi for believing in me.” 

Belardi, which won the 2014 Indy Lights title with Gabby Chaves in 2014, will resume testing in early January.