IndyCar Series veteran Sebastian Saavedra will return to the wheel with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports this weekend, driving the team’s No. 7 car at the Honda Indy Toronto race.
Saavedra's career stretches back to 2010 with 62 appearances in the series, including this year’s Indianapolis 500, where he finished 15th for Juncos Racing.
Saavedra replaces Mikhail Aleshin, who will sit out the race for an unspecified reason. It follows the Russian's visa issues last month which stopped him from taking part in the opening day of practice for the Kohler GP.
The 27-year-old will be reunited this weekend with Blair Perschbacher, who was Saavedra's race engineer in Indy Lights. The duo teamed up to win the Indy Lights race at Toronto in 2010 with Andretti Autosport. Saavedra also finished second in the 2012 Indy Lights race at Toronto.
Saavedra’s last Verizon IndyCar Series race on a temporary street course came at Toronto in 2015 when he drove for Chip Ganassi Racing and finished 16th. The Colombian's best finish on a street course was eighth place at Baltimore in 2013, when he drove for Dragon Racing.
