Theo Pourchaire was all smiles on the opportunity of making his INDYCAR debut at Long Beach (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish).
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Last year’s F2 champion Theo Pourchaire will have both the opportunity to make his mark in the NTT INDYCAR Series, but also embark on the indelible challenge of making his American Open Wheel Racing debut in the prestigious yet treacherous Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Pourchaire is filling in for David Malukas in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet as Malukas is still recovering from injuries sustained in a mountain bike accident earlier this year. Malukas underwent surgery on his right wrist but is sidelined from making his organization debut after leaving Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports.
Since the season opener at St. Petersburg in February, Callum Ilott has subbed in the No. 6 Chevy. Ilott brought the Arrow McLaren machine home in 13th in the season opener and has also driven the car at both Thermal Club and the open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Now, Ilott’s commitments shift toward the FIA World Endurance Championship with the six-hour race at Imola commencing on Sunday.
It led to Pourchaire, who is a reserve driver for the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber organization, getting the opportunity for his first major open-wheel race since competing in the Super Formula opener at Suzuka last month.
“It’s a great job to have. In case one of the drivers is not able to drive, I’m replacing them,” Pourchaire commented on being a part of Sauber. “Thanks to them for letting me drive for McLaren. I think also Zak Brown contacted Andreas Seidl. They of course contacted me to give me the opportunity to drive. Thanks to Sauber as well for letting me drive. It’s good.”
The 20-year-old Frenchman is the reigning F2 champion and had nothing but gratitude for being a part of the 27-car field in Southern California this weekend.
“First of all I have to thank Arrow McLaren for giving me this amazing opportunity. Of course, I’m thinking about David. It’s not going to be easy for me to drive there because I have zero experience in INDYCAR,” said Pourchaire during Friday morning’s press conference. “But the team is amazing. I met all the people in the team. I spent two good weeks in Indianapolis. I had the chance to see the eclipse, which is great, do a little bit of simulator, do the seat fit and work with the team. I feel comfortable. Even if I don’t know the track and the car, it’s going to be a first time for me this weekend. But I really am looking forward to drive this afternoon already.”
Theo Pourchaire entering the track during Friday practice at Long Beach (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish).
However, he’s fully aware of facing the unknown that IndyCar racing provides, such as learning the 1.968-mile street course and how the car handles compared to more aerodynamic-dependent Super Formula machines.
“Super Formula is really light, a lot of downforce, but not so much powerful compared to INDYCAR from what I saw from the onboard videos and the races I watched from INDYCAR,” Pourchaire explained. “It’s going to be tough of course technically because I don’t know the car and the track. Physically, as well.
“I will give my best. I will for sure not give up. I know the race is 85 laps, I think, without power steering, with a very bumpy track. But it’s going to be a great challenge and I’m looking forward to it. I think I will be a little bit tired at the end of the weekend, but it’s fine.”
Over the last several years, several F1 and F2 alumnus have made the jump to INDYCAR, including the aforementioned Ilott and his former F2 teammate Christian Ludgaard.
The Rahal Letterman Racing driver was Pourchaire’s teammate in 2021 when they drove for ART Grand Prix where he finished 12th in the standings. Pourchaire scored a feature win at Monaco and finished fifth in the season standings while current McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri won the championship that year.
“[Arrow McLaren] gonna get a talented fast Frenchman. I’m gonna leave it there, but Theo a really good guy,” Christian Lundgaard said on Pourchaire. “I know that he’s gonna come in with a lot of optimism, but also a lot of excitement.
“The people that I have spoken to, the signal that I show whenever I came over to bid my one-off race in 2021. They saw that it was possible for the European drivers to come over and be successful straight away and show something. That’s the approach that they’ve taken here. I also know that they preferred to keep Callum to keep it consistent, but with his duties back in Europe that it make that possible.
“It’s a great opportunity [for Theo] also because it’s Super Formula season is very spread out and only do probably one race a month. I pulled up with him in Indy while he was there, so it was good to see him again.”
Pourchaire was 21st fastest in his INDYCAR practice debut Friday (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish).
Despite the French connection between Pourchaire and 10-year F1 racer Romain Grosjean, the latter doesn’t have much of a connection due to the generational gap being well apart. Despite that, the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver who finished on the podium at Long Beach twice, explained how the sport of F1 has changed in terms of limited seat availability as safety has evolved and tenured racers like Fernando Alonso prolonging their careers.
Racers like Piastri, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris are hard to come by where a long-lasting impression is everything toward staying on the F1 grid for years to come.
“I think back in the days they would lose a lot of drivers every year and that’s where drivers got into Formula One. Luckily the safety has gone to another level and Formula One drivers can race for a long time. Look at Fernando, you know he’s gonna go well above 400 races,” said Grosjean. “In motorsports, one thing that you cannot control is being at the right time at the right place. Why would you bring a new guy when you have a really good pair like Norris and Piastri at McLaren? Why would you change that for the next 10 years?”
Heading into Sunday, Pourchaire will become the latest driver to make the jump from Europe to North America and will have tremendous company as teammates. He’ll have two-time Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach winner Alexander Rossi and fellow F1 reserved driver and ex-Super Formula racer Pato O’Ward to lean on.
“It’s very good for me to have the two teammates this weekend. They are really, really great drivers. They perform very well in INDYCAR,” said Pourchaire. “(Pato) is a reserve driver in F1, is doing well in INDYCAR. Alex is also an ex F1 driver, he won the Indy 500.
“For me it’s very good to have those teammates. It’s going to be difficult to be close to them or to beat them, but I will work with them, I will watch the onboard cameras, the data, work as much as possible and improve my driving and my INDYCAR experience from them.”
Street courses are one of Pourchaire’s favorite aspects in racing as evident with his win at Monaco in 2021, which was among the many highlights of his junior formula career. Long Beach is among the world’s most recognizable street courses, but it can be unforgiving when an error is made. The young racer is aware of what can happen if a mistake is made in street courses.
“I love street course. It’s very good because especially in qualifying you feel when you are at the limits, one very, very small mistake and you can end up in the wall. You have to be really precise, push a lot, take risks,” said Pourchaire. “I will just try for me this weekend to get used to everything because compared to when I won in Monaco, I don’t know the track like in ’21 in Monaco. But for me I will have to learn the car. Even the championship — everything is new. I will just take it easy at the beginning and just do my best.”
Pourchaire ended up 21st fastest during Friday’s practice session at Long Beach with a personal best of 68.2857 seconds, trailing the fastest in practice, which was his teammate O’Ward by 1.5983 seconds.
