Theo Pourchaire is an IndyCar-driver no more. Arrow McLaren has announced that the replacement of Palou’s replacement, is now also replaced. The Frenchman was in the #6 seat since the Grand Prix of Long Beach last April, after David Malukas, who was set to replace Palou, injured himself in the offseason.
Pourchaire’s place will be taken over by this year’s super-sub Nolan Siegel, who drove the #18 Dale Coyne car earlier in the season, before replacing Agustín Canapino at Juncos Hollinger Racing last time out. The Argentine was benched in response to his fans threatening Pourchaire, ironically, following a get-together between the two drivers in Detroit.
The IndyCar rookie has signed a multi-year deal with the team, starting from next weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. It will mean his fourth IndyCar start in five attempts, as the rookie was unfortunately bumped from the Indy 500 this May.
“I’m looking forward to jumping right in with the Arrow McLaren team this week and confirming my place in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in papaya moving forward,” Siegel said. “This is an unexpected jump, but I’m thrilled to be in this position after a rewarding run in the Indy NXT by Firestone series with HMD Motorsports. I am looking forward to this new journey and learning alongside the entire team starting this weekend in my home state.”
Team Principal Gavin Ward added: “Stability and sustained growth are key to our long-term game plan here, and this is a significant step in that mission. First, I want to thank Théo for his time filling in on the No. 6 car with us in recent weeks.
“We’ve been working through musical chairs all season, and ultimately, making this change to Nolan now that he’s available gives us the chance to build a foundation for the future. He is a young, talented driver with an immense amount of experience at this stage of his career and we’re excited to continue on the upward journey together.”
According to court documents from the Palou case, Arrow McLaren sued the Catalan driver for loss of payment the team would have received from General Motors, parent company of their engine supplier Chevrolet, as the two-time champion was an “A-level driver”, something Malukas wasn’t considered to be, according to GM.
But by contracting Pourchaire, who was available at the time of Palou backing out of his contract, Arrow McLaren has demonstrated that it hasn’t pursued proper replacement for Palou, according to his legal team. And thus the team wouldn’t be eligible for compensation by Palou. Whether this has played part in the decision to drop Pourchaire remains a guess for now.
