Indy Pro 2000 champion Louis Foster is gearing up for a crucial race at the Indianapolis road course in the Indy NXT championship this weekend.
British driver Foster, 19, has had a difficult start in this new championship over the first two races with issues in both races, but his qualifying and race pace shows what he and his Andretti Autosport team is capable of.
“It’s true, the season hasn’t started how we wanted in terms of results, but we can take positives in our pace and how we have handled our problems,” says Foster, who is backed by Copart, a global leader in online auto auctions.
“It’s nice to get two road courses in a row where we can take what we’ve learned heading into Indy this weekend, a track we tested on earlier this year and I’ve probably done more laps on this circuit than anywhere else in the US.
“There’s no reason to change our approach to the weekend, I’m happy with our preparation and the team has been really supportive ever since I joined.
“Now we need to execute like I know we all can and start to pile up the results we’re really capable of with the #26 Andretti Autosport car.”
Foster was testing at Mid-Ohio earlier this week, another road course, which should help with Foster’s adaptation to the new Firestone tyres. The Indy road course race this weekend is the series’ third race of the year. It’s a particularly tough one as there’s less track time with only one practice session whereas previous races have had two.
Foster starts the weekend 15th in the championship, hoping to bank a strong points finish at what is the spiritual home of the series and of open-wheel racing in America.
Indy schedule - Eastern Time (BST -5)
Friday, March 3 Practice 1 1100-1150 (1600-1650) Qualifying 1420-1440 (1920-1940) Saturday, March 4 Race 1310-1405 (1810-1905) Indy NXT is available to watch on Peacock TV in the USA and on Sky Sports for certain sessions. The race on Saturday will be shown on Sky Sports Sports F1 channel at 1800. In countries where Indy NXT is not scheduled to be broadcast, it is available through the IndyCar Live streaming service.
Notes to editors
Louis Foster
Louis Foster is a 19-year-old British racing driver from Hampshire aiming to take the racing world by storm. He’s a member of the BRDC SuperStars and races for the Andretti Autosport team in Indy NXT by Firestone. Son of British Touring Car and GT racer Nick Foster, Louis has been around motorsport for the majority of his life. Foster had a successful karting career before making his debut in Ginetta Juniors where he won nine races and scored 19 podiums in his first season. A step up to the British F4 championship delivered six wins and 13 podiums in his first season of single-seater racing, while his debut BRDC British F3 campaign kept up a 100% winning record in his car racing career with three victories and six podiums. In 2021 Foster stepped up to racing in Europe and added three wins in Euroformula Open, took a further 10 podiums and two pole positions in a series which raced in front of Formula 1 on occasion this year. His performances led to a nomination for the prestigious Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award, an honour which was repeated a year later. The following year he made his debut in America and won half of the races on the way to the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 championship. He won on all three types of tracks, including on street courses and ovals which he hadn’t raced on before. Outside of motorsport Louis is a keen rugby and hockey player as well as enjoying off-road mountain biking and training in the gym. Foster is sponsored by auction giant Copart, which sells more than 300,000 cars per years in the UK and more than 3M cars per year worldwide. He is also backed by Chambers Recycling Solutions, Novara Technologies, One Sports Management Group and Poggesi. For media inquiries and interview requests, please contact barry@onesmgroup.com
Indy NXT by Firestone
Indy NXT (formerly Indy Lights before a major rebrand for 2023) is the top level of junior racing in the United States. It is organised and promoted by Penske Entertainment - which also owns NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - and is the premier route for drivers hoping to reach INDYCAR. It races on road courses, street circuits and ovals, just like the stars of INDYCAR. The series races with cars made by Dallara, with the distinctive Halo device used to help protect the drivers. The cars feature turbocharged, 2-litre engines producing 450bhp, and are tricky to control which gives drivers a good learning curve ahead of reaching IndyCar. Winning the series awards a prize fund worth a reported $1.4 million, and includes tests at Texas and Indianapolis, an Indy 500 start and an entry into one additional IndyCar race. Past champions of the series include Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward. Indy NXT by Firestone calendar March 5 St Petersburg April 30 Barber May 13 Indianapolis road course June 3-4 Detroit (doubleheader) June 18 Road America July 2 Mid-Ohio July 22 Iowa Aug 6 Nashville Aug 11 Indianapolis road course Aug 26 Gateway September 3 Portland September 9-10 Laguna Seca (double header)