LIGHTS: Piedrahita back with Pelfrey

Colombian driver Juan Piedrahita will return to Team Pelfrey IL in a bid to win the 2017 Indy Lights championship. The relentless Bogota native is set to contest his fourth season of Lights after making his debut with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2015. With his USF2000 and Pro Mazda experience included, the 25-year-old will embark on his eighth year of Mazda Road To Indy training.

"I couldn't be happier to rejoin Team Pelfrey for the 2017 Indy Lights season," Piedrahita said. "After working with the crew last year, I knew it was the right fit coming into this year. [Team manager] Gary [Neal] and [engineer] Yves [Touron] have given me a lot of confidence and they always have a very competitive car at every track. We are going be extremely competitive this year and for sure we are going to seal the deal in the Freedom 100."

Piedrahita is the 12th driver to commit to full-season drives in Indy Lights. The championship gets under way in just over two months on the streets of St. Petersburg.

"We are extremely happy to welcome Juan back to Team Pelfrey IL for the 2017 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires," said Neal, who will launch a testing program with Piedrahita to prepare for the March 11-12 season opener. "We built a lot of momentum in post 2016 season testing with Juan and I am sure we will see some great results this season."