Peugeot names Indy Lights Champ as a reserve driver

Peugeot has signed Firestone Indy Lights champion Jean-Karl Vernay as its reserve driver for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The 23-year-old Frenchman had hoped to graduate to IndyCar this year, and tested with the Conquest team during the winter, but could not put enough sponsorship together to buy a ride in IndyCar, which looks bad for IndyCar.

"We looked at a few of the discipline's rising stars with a good track record and decided to offer a test to Jean-Karl Vernay this week, said Peugeot Sport boss Olivier Quesnel. "He has raced in a driver development series, in similar fashion to Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud, in the United States in Indy Lights. He is young and fits the profile of our drivers. It's also a way of us preparing for the future."

Team manager Pascal Dimitri said, "Vernay had made a good impression when we tested him.".