A.J Foyt’s latest signing Dalton Kellett says he hopes to be able to tap into the experience of Sebastien Bourdais when the two pair up at the team in 2021.
Kellett will race alongside the vastly more experienced Frenchman, who won four CART titles in the early 2000s, in the 2021 IndyCar Series.
Kellett made his IndyCar debut in a Covid-19 affected 2020 campaign as he participated in six events, including the Indianapolis 500, but will step up full-time next year.
“What I’ve seen from him so far is that he’s very analytical,” said Kellett. “He’s very demanding, more so than me.
“I think as a rookie it can be kind of tough to come in with the confident and the kind of, this is what I want, and it has to be this way, and justifiably because you’re a rookie, you don’t quite have the pedigree to kind of say those things.
“But also just seeing what it is that he is exacting about and kind of tailor in my feedback and kind of my expectations as far as what I want out of the car. I think that’s going to be the — at least one of the first things I’m going to learn from Seb.”
Kellett was also encouraged by how the duo compared at the post-season test at the Barber Motorsports Park.
“In looking at data and from a simulator day and from some time testing at Barber, it seems like we have pretty complementary driving styles,” he added.
“When we do a [set-up] change and kind of compare apples-to-apples, do the same change on my car and then replicate that on his car, our feedback seems to be relatively similar.
“It can be tough when you have one guy that, say, you make a rear spring change and the feedback is different, that can make it difficult for the engineers. It seems like we have kind of similar driving styles, which I think is going to help.”
