Indy Lights race will help Formula E title bid, Piquet says

Nelson Piquet Jr. says making his Indy Lights debut in Toronto this weekend will help his bid to secure the maiden Formula E championship.

Piquet will appear in the Mazda Road to Indy series with the Carlin team in place of Max Chilton, who is racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours with Nissan. It will come one week after Piquet won the penultimate FE round in Moscow, and two weeks before the London finale, which the Brazilian will enter with a 17-point lead over Lucas di Grassi.

In the middle of a busy stretch, Piquet will also tackle the second event of his other primary program, the Re Bull Global Rallycross Championship.

"For me, it's a great opportunity," Piquet told AUTOSPORT of the Lights start. "It's an open-wheel car on a road course, and I think it's great reflex practice for London.

"I'm a racer – I don't care if it's a Formula Ford race or anything. I don't have any ego problems thinking that I'm not supposed to be in those sorts of cars, I just love racing."

London's Formula E double-header means 60 points will be up for grabs, and Piquet says heading to the event as the points leader is a boost.

"It's really important," Piquet said. "You always want to start the last weekend of the season with a points lead, the benefit always helps you.

"We're planning on going over there and not doing anything silly, just play it safe, the game we've been playing all year. Obviously we'll work really hard to be extra prepared for London, but the team know what we're doing. We'll just have to keep the same rhythm and we're going to be right."

Originally on AUTOSPORT.com