Stefano Coletti is ready for his IndyCar debut

Stefano Coletti

KV Racing Technology’s Stefano Coletti will make his Verizon IndyCar Series debut with KV Racing Technology this weekend at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, March 27-29, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Coletti will drive the No. 4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Dallara/Firestone car on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit, which incorporates some of the streets in downtown St. Petersburg and a section of runway at Albert Whitted Airport. The Monegasque driver is no stranger to tight street circuits having won the GP2 Series sprint race in his hometown, Monaco in 2013.

The 25-year-old has been extremely impressive at recent tests and in particular at the Barber Open Test last week. Coletti was constantly challenging the reigning champion, Will Power, and eventually finished third on the timing sheets, just two tenths off Power’s pace.

Commenting on this new stage in his racing career, Coletti said, "I am really excited to start the Championship and the challenge of learning all the new tracks! I have done a few tests now with KV Racing Technology and gathered some valuable data, which I’m looking forward to being able to use this weekend at St. Petersburg. I have been able to watch some past races, so have an idea of what the track will be like and especially what to expect in Turn 1, which looks extremely tight. Having such an experienced teammate as Sebastien Bourdais has been really helpful and we work well together, so I am looking forward to having a great first season to my IndyCar career."

Coletti spent the last four years in the GP2 series and earned a total of eight wins (including one in the GP2 Asia series in 2011) and one pole in 90 GP2 races. He finished last year with a victory in the sprint race in Abu Dhabi and ended up sixth in the 2014 standings and fifth in the 2013 championship.

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, March 27-29, will be live on ABC from 3 p.m. ET. It will also be on XM 209, IMS IndyCar Radio affiliates, plus IndyCar.com and the Verizon INDYCAR 15 app.