Arrow McLaren’s season of turmoil and changes with its No. 6 entry continues and potentially ends this weekend as promising Frenchman Theo Pourchaire, the reigning Formula 2 champion who impressed the team in his handful of starts, has been replaced in favor of Nolan Siegel.
The late decision came as a shock to the 20-year-old, whose post to X on Monday of, “Man I can’t believe I’m gonna race on the legendary Laguna Seca this weekend. Can’t wait to be there for the Grand Prix of Monterey” was liked more than 2100 times before he was informed that the team has changed its mind on having him complete the rest of the season in the No. 6 car in order to launch a new multiyear arrangement with Siegel.
Despite missing out on two points-paying races at St. Petersburg and the Indianapolis 500, Pourchaire — a rookie with no experience at any of the tracks, or with the Dallara DW12 IndyCar — has risen to 21st in the championship, just 25 points behind 18th-place Linus Lundqvist from Chip Ganassi Racing, who leads the Rookie of the Year standings.
For Pourchaire, who cleared his calendar to make himself available to Arrow McLaren for the rest of the season, the loss of an IndyCar seat comes with no immediate answers on how or when he’ll continue in the series, but his output to date has not gone unnoticed.
As the news of the change made the rounds Tuesday morning, three prominent teams sought and received Pourchaire’s contact information to discuss future opportunities. Although Pourchaire declined to comment on the matter when reached by RACER, he did confirm his interest in staying in IndyCar and racing for a new team.
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