Dale Coyne Racing has announced that Katherine Legge will contest this weekend’s double-header round for the IndyCar Series at Iowa Speedway.
The Briton will reassume the DCR’s co-partnered Rick Ware Racing’s #51 Honda-powered entry that she previously drove to a 29th-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 in May, having also tested with the team in the recent IndyCar test at this weekend's venue.
“I’m thrilled to be behind the wheel of an IndyCar at the Iowa doubleheader this weekend,” said Legge.
“We had a successful test there last week, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the races unfold on the new surface. I’m grateful to Dale Coyne and Honda and so happy to be back in the 51.”
Legge is coming off a busy June that saw her finish fifth in class in the 102nd edition of The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb as a rookie in the Acura Integra S DE5, reaching the 14,115-foot summit in 10m51.359s - just three seconds off the front-wheel-drive record.
In 2005, Legge became the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America after claiming victory in the Atlantic Championship, which was, at the time, a developmental series for Champ Car. She went on to compete in Champ Car the following two years, where she became the first woman in the series to lead laps, which came at the Milwaukee Mile en route to a best finish of sixth.
She competed in 10 IndyCar races in 2012 and became just the ninth woman to qualify for the Indy 500 before returning for the race in 2013. For the 2023 Indy 500, she set the fastest one-lap (231.627 mph) and four-lap (231.070 mph) qualification speeds for a woman in the history of the race.
“We’re looking forward to having Katherine back in the car with us at Iowa this weekend,” said team owner Dale Coyne.
“She did a good job for us at Indy and we had a strong test at Iowa Speedway last week with both Katherine and Jack (Harvey). We’re excited to see what the doubleheader weekend in Iowa brings.”
