Juncos Hollinger Racing announced Thursday that it has signed Callum Ilott to a long-term contract. The terms of the contract were not released. Illott, 23, has qualified inside the top-12 for every road course race this season and finished eighth at the GMR Grand Prix.
More:What you need to know about England’s Callum Ilott before the 2022 Indy 500
“Back in 2021, I took my time to choose our IndyCar driver from a list of five drivers,” JHR Co-owner and Team Principal Ricardo Juncos said in a statement. “Even when Callum was not on the radar for most of the teams here in the states, I knew he was the perfect fit for our team. Not only for his potential as a driver, but his personality and his desire to win which aligns with our team philosophy. Today, almost a year later, I’m happy to confirm Callum’s continuation with the team for a long term. From the last three races during the 2021 season and the great results we have had so far this year, shows we were right in choosing him as our driver.”
Ilott made his IndyCar debut last season and ran in the final three races. He considered a career in Formula One, finishing as the runner-up in the 2020 Formula 2 championship, before transitioning to IndyCar. He served as Scuderia Ferrari’s official F1 test driver, and Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s reserve driver in 2021.
“After seeing the results that we have been able to put forward at JHR for most of the year and the work that has been going on in the background by Ricardo and Brad (Hollinger) to improve for the years beyond, made sense to continue with the team and keep building,” Ilott said in a statement. “The potential that we have shown as a one-car team can only get better as we grow and expand this program.”
Ilot was frequently mentioned as a potential replacement on Chip Ganassi’s team if the team parts with Alex Palou next season. However, this would seem to take that option off the table.
