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Sebastián Saavedra
Sebastian Saavedra at the 2011 Indy 500
Nationality	Colombian
Born	(1990-06-02)2 June 1990 (age 35) Bogotá, Colombia
Racing licence	FIA Gold
IndyCar Series career
63 races run over 7 years
Team	No. 17 (Juncos Racing)
Best finish	21st (2013,2014)
First race	2010 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race	2017 Honda Indy Toronto (Toronto)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 1
Previous series
2009–10,2012 2008 2008 2007 2006–2007 2006–07	Indy Lights ATS Formel 3 Cup Austria Formula 3 Cup Formula BMW Pacific Formula BMW USA Formula BMW ADAC
Awards
2009	Indy Lights Rookie of the Year

Sebastián Saavedra (born 2 June 1990) is a Colombian racing driver fromBogotá. In 2014, he drove for KVSH Racing in the VerizonIndyCar Series before being replaced by formerGP2 Series driverStefano Coletti.

After a childhood inkarting, Saavedra drove inFormula BMW USA forGelles Racing, finishing eleventh in points. He also drove in two races in Formula BMW ADAC and competed in the Formula BMW World Final, finishing 32nd. He was involved in an incident withSergio Pérez where Saavedra's car ended up on top of Pérez's in round 6 of 2006 Formula BMW ADAC. Both drivers were black flagged and Saavedra was dropped by his team, Eifelland Racing.^[1] In 2007, he switched teams in Formula BMW USA toEurointernational and captured one win and finished twelfth in points despite only competing in eight of fourteen races. He also competed in 6 Formula BMW Asia races capturing three wins, two races in Formula BMW ADAC, and finished fourth in the Formula BMW World Final. In 2008 he moved toATS Formel 3 Cup and finished second in points with three wins forHS Technik Motorsport. He also competed in a number ofAustria Formula 3 Cup races and finished ninth in points.

In 2009, Saavedra signed to drive in the AmericanFirestone Indy Lights Series in2009 for defending championship teamAGR-AFS Racing alongside teammateJ. R. Hildebrand. He captured his first Indy Lights win in the fourth race of the season and the first on an oval, atKansas Speedway in April. In July, he won from the pole on thestreets of Toronto.

He returned to the series in2010 forBryan Herta Autosport and made hisIndyCar Series debut in the2010 Indianapolis 500 driving for the same team.^[2] Saavedra was onthe bubble during most of qualifying duringbump day, and crashed during practice laps while waiting for other drivers to attempt to qualify. While he was in the hospital being checked out, and with no working car to attempt to re-qualify, Saavedra appeared out of the race whenTony Kanaan bettered his time knocking him out of the field. However, when bothPaul Tracy andJay Howard withdrew their successful qualifying times and failed to re-qualify (both felt they would be knocked out by other drivers if they did not improve), Saavedra improbably ended up back in position thirty-three and in the race when time ran out for attempts.^[3] Saavedra crashed out in a single car accident on lap 159 and was credited with 23rd place in the race. The following month, Saavedra captured Bryan Herta Autosport's second Indy Lights win in the AvoidTheStork.com 100 atIowa Speedway.

On 4 September 2010, Saavedra officially terminated his contract with Bryan Herta Autosport due to the team's inability to meet contract standards after a string of car failures and negative results.

Saavedra competed in theIndyCar Series season finale atHomestead Miami Speedway forConquest Racing. He signed on to return to Conquest for the full2011 IndyCar Series season in the team's No. 34 car.^[4] Driving for the single-car Conquest team, Saavedra's best finish was eleventh in the2011 São Paulo Indy 300. Saavedra failed to qualify for the2011 Indianapolis 500 while his one-off teammatePippa Mann qualified for the race. He was replaced in the Conquest car byJoão Paulo de Oliveira for theMotegi race andDillon Battistini at theKentucky Speedway, but returned to the car for the season finale inLas Vegas, which was cancelled afterDan Wheldon's fatal crash. Saavedra finished 25th in the final championship standings.

For 2012, Saavedra returned to AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport to race a full season in Indy Lights and also drove in the IndyCar Series in the2012 Indianapolis 500 as well as the series' races atSonoma Raceway andAuto Club Speedway.

For 2014, Saavedra signed withKV Racing Technology, racing under the KV/AFS banner. In the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Saavedra qualified on pole with a time of 01:23.8822. He stalled at the start and was struck by the cars ofCarlos Muñoz andMikhail Aleshin while still stationary. His best result throughout the year was 9th in Long Beach.

In 2015, Saavedra joinedChip Ganassi Racing split time in the No. 8 withSage Karam.^[5] Saavedra ran the Indy 500 in a fifth car entered by Ganassi with the No. 17. During the race, Saavedra collided withJack Hawksworth and hit the turn four wall. After bouncing off, his car was hit just in front of the driver's cockpit byStefano Coletti. Saavedra was unable to leave the accident under his own power; Saavedra's boot had to be cut off to remove him from the car, after which he was carried by the safety team into an ambulance. Saavedra participated in two more races during the season before being released by Ganassi at season end.

For 2017, Saavedra was signed to drive theIndianapolis 500 for the newJuncos Racing team in the No. 17 car.^[6] He placed fifteenth, matching his career best finish in the 500. Later in the season, Saavedra was signed to drive atToronto in the No. 7 car forSchmidt Peterson Motorsports, replacingMikhail Aleshin for the race weekend.^[7]

In 2019, Saavedra participated onInternational Motor Sports Association (IMSA)24 Hours of Daytona race, winning the LMP2 class in the No. 18DragonSpeedOreca 07, piloted byPastor Maldonado, Roberto Gonzalez,Ryan Cullen and himself, overcoming an engine problem which nearly jeopardized his race.

(key)

¹TheLas Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned afterDan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

• Official website
• IndyCar Driver Page

• 1990 births
• Living people
• Colombian racing drivers
• German Formula Three Championship drivers
• Racing drivers from Bogotá
• Indy Lights drivers
• IndyCar Series drivers
• Colombian IndyCar Series drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Formula BMW ADAC drivers
• Formula BMW USA drivers
• 24 Hours of Daytona drivers
• WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
• Global RallyCross Championship drivers
• Chip Ganassi Racing drivers
• AFS Racing drivers
• Eifelland Racing drivers
• DragonSpeed drivers
• Starworks Motorsport drivers
• Conquest Racing drivers
• Andretti Autosport drivers
• Bryan Herta Autosport drivers
• Dragon Racing drivers
• Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers
• KV Racing Technology drivers
• Austrian Formula Three Championship drivers
• EuroInternational drivers
• Arrow McLaren SP drivers
• Lamborghini Super Trofeo drivers

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