Vodanovich switches goals to single seaters and heads to USA

12 March 2021  /   Driver Announcement

PeteUS (940 x 450)

Peter Vodanovich is set to join the Road to Indy and will head off to the USA this month for a campaign in USF2000 as he looks towards a future in IndyCar.

Vodanovich impressed all with his natural speed and racecraft in the Castrol Toyota Racing Series this year despite having only very limited single seater experience.

He joins Jay Howard Racing and along with Billy Frazer and Spike Kohlbecker will be the third graduate of TRS confirmed for USF2000 this season.

"I will be doing my best to be winning races and collecting points towards a strong championship result," he said ahead of the formal announcement of his campaign. “I still have a lot to learn but I will be putting in the preparation and working with the team to hopefully get the results."

Acknowledged as one of the best up and coming saloon car racers in Australasia, and the 2019-2020 Best Bars Toyota 86 Champion, the move to single seaters represents a change of direction for the young racer.

"Yes it is a new direction," he said. "It's definitely my intention for this move to put me on the right track towards IndyCar. I love what both types of racing have to offer and am relishing the opportunity to work towards an IndyCar career with the likes of Scott Dixon. Having Jay Howard in my corner is going to help accelerate my transition.”

Team owner Howard is the only driver in history to win the USF2000 championship as a driver and a team owner. A former IndyCar racer as well, Howard's team is established on the Road to Indy programme as one of the best outfits for young single seater racers.

There are six TRS graduates currently racing at various levels of the Road to Indy programme. In addition to the three in USF2000, Artem Petrov races in Indy Pro 2000 and Devlin DeFrancesco and Nikita Lastochkin in Indy Lights.

Peter is also the sixth driver going through the development steps created by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing New Zealand in which drivers learn the ropes in Toyota 86, before racing in TRS and then going overseas.