Arrow McLaren has revealed its driver for the #6 entry for most of the remainder of the 2024 IndyCar Season, with Theo Pourchaire climbing behind the wheel for all remaining races except for the Indy 500.
Pourchaire will take the reins for 13 rounds throughout the season, filling in for most of the races David Malukas was originally scheduled to run.
A hand injury Malukas sustained in February has taken longer to heal than originally thought, and the team decided that it needed to name a more permanent replacement for the 22-year-old.
Pourchaire was called in for two races in the first portion of the season, and did well enough, including 11th on debut in Long Beach, to earn a role with the team for the remainder for the year.
The Frenchman remains as reserve driver for the Sauber F1 team, but will forego the rest of the Super Formula season to concentrate on his task in IndyCar.
As part of his assignment stateside, the reigning F2 champion will be tasked with racing on a few oval tracks for the first time in his career.
Pourchaire recently completed his first oval test around Gateway last week, and related that he was nervous and a bit intimidated at first.
By the end of the test, however, he was more confident and expressed a lot of excitement for his first oval race, which is scheduled for July 13 at Iowa Speedway.
“We’re excited to continue working with Théo,” said Team Principal Gavin Ward. “He proved to be a quick learner, and we believe his skillset and learning mindset will support his development as he gets more comfortable racing in the NTT IndyCar Series.
“Now, it’s about continuing to grow and turning those learnings into results alongside the No. 6 team.”
Arrow McLaren did not announce a driver for the Indianapolis 500, which is only two weeks away, promising that news is coming on that front in the near future.
The first race of the team’s new arrangement takes place this weekend, with the Sonsio Grand Prix scheduled for Saturday afternoon around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
