The 34-year-old will drive the Honda-powered #51 entry on the tight and challenging street circuit based in the heart of Motor City.
The upcoming outing will mark Vautier’s return to the IndyCar Series for the first time since 2017, when he was called upon by the team as substitute for the injured Sebastien Bourdais at Texas Motor Speedway. The French driver finished 16th on what was his first IndyCar outing for almost two years.
The last time Vautier was in Detroit was when IndyCar raced at nearby Belle Isle as part of a double-header weekend, which saw him finish 17th in the first race before scoring a series-best result of fourth in race two. He has 31 career IndyCar starts, including 12 with Dale Coyne Racing.
“Coming back to Dale Coyne Racing is like coming back to family and I want to thank Dale and Falcon Motorsport for giving me this opportunity,” Vautier said.
Vautier has spent his recent years finding success in sportscar racing, competing in both the IMSA Sportscar Championship, the World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series.
#4 Floyd Vanwall Racing Team Vanwall Vandervell 680 of Tristan Vautier
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
In 2021, he was part of the JDC-Miller MotorSports squad that took victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring, while taking a further rostrum at Long Beach that year. In 2022, Vautier was part of the team that finished third at the Daytona 24 Hours, second at the 12 Hours of Sebring and another third at Long Beach.
Most recently, the French driver dovetailed a 2023 ELMS campaign with a partial outing in the WEC for Vanwall.
At next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours, Vautier will act as reserve driver for the Chip Ganassi Cadillac squad in the Hypercar class.
Vautier becomes the fifth different driver of the #51 car this year, after Colin Braun started the year before Nolan Siegel stepped in for the second round and Luca Ghiotto took over for rounds three and four. Katherine Legge became the fourth driver as she competed at the Indianapolis 500.
Source: Autosport