Fittipaldi secures Coyne IndyCar deal for 2018

Pietro Fittipaldi will make his debut in the Verizon IndyCar Series this year after signing a seven-race deal with Dale Coyne Racing, including the Indianapolis 500 in May.

The grandson of two-time Formula 1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, Pietro, 21, won last year's World Series Formula V8 3.5 title, and was initially angling for a step up to Formula 2 for 2018.

Fittipaldi first revealed he was considering options in both IndyCar and its primary feeder series, Indy Lights, during an interview with Crash.net in January, with tests following later that month.

Fittipaldi featured in this week's collective IndyCar test at Sonoma before announcing via Twitter on Tuesday that he had agreed terms with Dale Coyne Racing to drive its #19 Honda for seven races in 2018.

The Brazilian will make his IndyCar debut in April's race at Phoenix before returning for the month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he will race in both the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indy 500.

Further appearances are planned for Texas, Mid-Ohio, Portland and Sonoma, with Zachary Claman DeMelo slated to fill the drive for the other 10 races on the schedule.

The deal marks the return of the Fittipaldi name to the top level of single-seater racing after 22 years when Emerson Fittipaldi made his last appearance in CART. He won the championship and victory at the Indy 500 in 1989 before claiming a second win at the Brickyard four years later.