IndyCar: Jakes back to IndyCar with Schmidt

James Jakes will return to IndyCar in 2015 after securing a deal to replace Mikhail Aleshin at Schmidt Peterson Motorsport. The Briton has been on the sidelines since Rahal Letterman Lanigan scaled down to one car at the end of 2013, and his new drive comes after he tested with SPM at NOLA last week (pictured).

"A big thank you to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for giving me the opportunity to test in NOLA after 16 months away," said Jakes. "I'm extremely excited and motivated to drive the #7 Honda SPM Indy car in 2015. The team has done a fantastic job over the past few seasons and I look forward to continuing that progress."

Team co-owner Sam Schmidt said that he expects the combined experience of Jakes and teammate James Hinchcliffe to make SPM a regular contender.

"The goal of the team when it moved to IndyCar in 2011 was to get to the point where we had two veteran drivers in the car, capable of pushing each other. This finally checks that box," he said.

"Even with 16 months out of the car, James was immediately up to speed at NOLA last week and contributed to the successful test of the team. We look forward to continuing the tradition that has been established over the past three seasons of winning races and competing for the championship."

Jakes spent three years in IndyCar between 2011 and '13, first with Dale Coyne Racing and then RLL. He achieved a career-best finish when he claimed second in the Sunday race in Detroit in 2013.

2015 VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES LINEUP SO FAR

A.J. FOYT RACING (Honda)
#14 Takuma Sato
#41 Jack Hawksworth

ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT (Honda)
#25 Marco Andretti
#27 TBA
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
#34 Carlos Munoz

BRYAN HERTA AUTOSPORT (Honda)
#98 Gabby Chaves

CFH RACING (Chevy)
#20 Ed Carpenter and Luca Filippi
#67 Josef Newgarden

CHIP GANASSI RACING (Chevy)
#8 TBA
#9 Scott Dixon
#10 Tony Kanaan
#83 Charlie Kimball

DALE COYNE RACING (Honda)
#18 TBA
#19 TBA

FAN FORCE UNITED (TBA)
#5 Stefan Wilson

KV RACING TECHNOLOGY (Chevy)
#11 Sebastien Bourdais
#17 TBA

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING (Honda)
#15 Graham Rahal

SCHMIDT PETERSON MOTORSPORT (Honda)
#7 James Jakes
#77 James Hinchcliffe

TEAM PENSKE (Chevy)
#1 Will Power
#2 Juan Pablo Montoya
#3 Helio Castroneves
#22 Simon Pagenaud

Originally on Autosport.com