F2 vets Theo Pourchaire Luca Ghiotto to race at Barber

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Theo Pourchaire faces a new challenge following his IndyCar debut, going from the streets of Long Beach to the road course at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

The 20-year-old Frenchman, who is the reigning Formula 2 champion, will get his second turn racing for injured Arrow McLaren driver David Malukas on Sunday. He goes to a different side of the country and a much different course.

"For me, it was something new," Pourchaire said this week after McLaren said he would race at Barber. "It was not easy to learn, but in the end I think I adapted pretty quickly to this championship, to this car, to the team. I still have a lot of things to learn, like for example, this weekend it's going to be a new racetrack.

"I will almost start from zero. I have a little bit more experience now, so I feel a bit more confident."

Also joining the field for his first IndyCar race will be Luca Ghiotto, another former Formula 2 driver who will helm Dale Coyne Racing's No. 51 car this weekend and on the Indianapolis road course in two weeks.

Pourchaire had never before driven an Indy car until last weekend's first practice session. He qualified 22nd but finished 11th, moving up a race-high 11 spots, "which is incredible for my first IndyCar race."

His introduction to the American open-wheel series came with no track time leading up to last Friday's first practice at Long Beach. He had been in Indianapolis for a couple of weeks before for a seat-fitting and to get acclimated with the team and spent one day in the Chevrolet simulator in North Carolina.

Pourchaire is still adapting to aspects of IndyCar like the longer length of the races and different fuel strategies. He expects to need a few laps on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile Barber track to get up to a competitive speed starting with Friday's first practice session.

"I learned a lot of things" at Long Beach, Pourchaire said. "How the car behaves on the racetrack like Long Beach was important for me to discover. But it will be even more important to rediscover the car, I think, in Barber, because the track is completely different."

Ghiotto has seven career F2 wins and has competed in sports cars since 2020. 

"I've spent the majority of my career overseas but was always intrigued and wanting to try IndyCar," Ghiotto said in a statement. "It will be my first time driving this car and my first time at this track, so there's a steep learning curve and challenge ahead of me, but I am very much looking forward to it."

He will be the third driver in the No. 51 this season. That car will be driven by Katherine Legge for the Indianapolis 500.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.