# Sebastián Saavedra

Sebastián Saavedra (born 2 June 1990) is a Colombian racing driver from Bogotá. In 2014, he drove for KVSH Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series before being replaced by former GP2 Series driver Stefano Coletti.

## Racing career
### Early career

After a childhood in karting, Saavedra drove in Formula BMW USA for Gelles Racing, finishing 11th in points. He also drove in two races in Formula BMW ADAC and competed in the Formula BMW World Final, finishing 32nd. He was involved in an incident with Sergio Pérez where Saavedra's car ended up on top of Pérez's in round 6 of 2006 Formula BMW ADAC. Both drivers were black flagged and Saavedra was dropped by his team, Eifelland Racing. In 2007 he switched teams in Formula BMW USA to Eurointernational and captured one win and finished 12th in points despite only competing in 8 of 14 races. He also competed in 6 Formula BMW Asia races capturing 3 wins, two races in Formula BMW ADAC, and finished 4th in the Formula BMW World Final. In 2008 he moved to ATS Formel 3 Cup and finished 2nd in points with 3 wins for HS Technik Motorsport. He also competed in a number of Austria Formula 3 Cup races and finished 9th in points.

### Indy Lights and 2010 Indy 500

In 2009 he signed to drive in the American Firestone Indy Lights Series in 2009 for defending championship team AGR-AFS Racing alongside teammate J. R. Hildebrand. He captured his first Indy Lights win in the fourth race of the season and the first on an oval, at Kansas Speedway in April. In July he won from the pole on the streets of Toronto.
He returned to the series in 2010 for Bryan Herta Autosport and made his IndyCar Series debut in the 2010 Indianapolis 500 driving for the same team. Saavedra was on the bubble during most of qualifying during bump day, and crashed during practice laps while waiting for other drivers to attempt to qualify. While he was in the hospital being checked out, and with no working car to attempt to re-qualify, Saavedra appeared out of the race when Tony Kanaan bettered his time knocking him out of the field. However, when both Paul Tracy and Jay Howard withdrew their successful qualifying times and failed to re-qualify (both felt they would be knocked out by other drivers if they did not improve), Saavedra improbably ended up back in position thirty-three and in the race when time ran out for attempts. Saavedra crashed out in a single car accident on lap 159 and was credited with 23rd place in the race. The following month, Saavedra captured Bryan Herta Autosport's second Indy Lights win in the AvoidTheStork.com 100 at Iowa Speedway.
On 4 September 2010, Saavedra officially terminated his contract with Bryan Herta Autosport due to the team's inability to meet contract standards after a string of car failures and negative results.

### IndyCar Series

Saavedra competed in the IndyCar Series season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway for Conquest Racing. He signed on to return to Conquest for the full 2011 IndyCar Series season in the team's No. 34 car. Driving for the single-car Conquest team, Saavedra's best finish was eleventh in the 2011 São Paulo Indy 300. Saavedra failed to qualify for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 while his one-off teammate Pippa Mann qualified for the race. He was replaced in the Conquest car by João Paulo de Oliveira for the Motegi race and Dillon Battistini at the Kentucky Speedway, but returned to the car for the season finale in Las Vegas, which was cancelled after Dan Wheldon's fatal crash. Saavedra finished 25th in the final championship standings.
For 2012 Saavedra returned to AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport to race a full season in Indy Lights and also drove in the IndyCar Series in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 as well as the series' races at Sonoma Raceway and Auto Club Speedway.
For 2014, Saavedra signed with KV Racing Technology, racing under the KV/AFS banner. In the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Saavedra qualified 1st with a time of 01:23.8822. He stalled at the start and was struck by the cars of Carlos Muñoz and Mikhail Aleshin while still stationary. His best result throughout the year was 9th in Long Beach.
In 2015, Saavedra joined Chip Ganassi Racing split time in the No. 8 with Sage Karam. Saavedra ran the Indy 500 in a fifth car entered by Ganassi with the No. 17. During the race, Saavedra collided with Jack Hawksworth and hit the Turn 4 wall. After bouncing off, his car was hit just in front of the driver's cockpit by Stefano Coletti. Saavedra was unable to leave the accident under his own power; Saavedra's boot had to be cut off to remove him from the car, after which he was carried by the safety team into an ambulance. Saavedra participated in two more races during the season before being released by Ganassi at season end.
For 2017, Saavedra was signed to drive the Indianapolis 500 for the new Juncos Racing team in the No. 17 car. He placed 15th, matching his career best finish in the 500. Later in the season, Saavedra was signed to drive at Toronto in the No. 7 car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, replacing Mikhail Aleshin for the race weekend.

### IMSA career

In 2019, Saavedra participated on International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) 24 Hours of Daytona race, winning the LMP2 class in the #18 DragonSpeed Oreca 07, piloted by Pastor Maldonado, Roberto Gonzalez, Ryan Cullen and himself, overcoming an engine problem which nearly jeopardized his race.

## Racing record
### American open–wheel racing results

(key)

#### Indy Lights

| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Rank | Points |
| 2009 | AGR-AFS Racing | STP1 26 | STP2 2 | LBH 8 | KAN 1 | INDY 5 | MIL 3 | IOW 15 | WGL 18 | TOR 1 | EDM 3 | KTY 2 | MDO 18 | SNM 7 | CHI 6 | HMS 3 | 3rd | 446 |
| 2010 | Bryan Herta Autosport | STP 12 | ALA 3 | LBH 4 | INDY 9 | IOW 1 | WGL 3 | TOR 14 | EDM 6 | MDO 5 | SNM 15 | CHI 11 | KTY | HMS | | | 8th | 303 |
| 2012 | AFS Racing Andretti Autosport | STP 3 | ALA 1 | LBH 2 | INDY 5 | DET 6 | MIL 2 | IOW 13 | TOR 2 | EDM 2 | TRO 9 | BAL 10 | FON 14 | | | | 4th | 383 |

#### IndyCar Series

| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points | Ref |
| 2010 | Bryan Herta Autosport | Dallara IR-05 | 29 | Honda | SAO | STP | ALA | LBH | KAN | INDY 23 | TXS | IOW | WGL | TOR | EDM | MDO | SNM | CHI | KTY | MOT | | | | 33rd | 29 | |
| 2010 | Conquest Racing | Dallara IR-05 | 36 | Honda | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HMS 16 | | | | 33rd | 29 |
| 2011 | Conquest Racing | Dallara IR-05 | 34 | Honda | STP 13 | ALA 26 | LBH 14 | SAO 11 | INDY DNQ | TXS 28 | TXS 29 | MIL 23 | IOW 20 | TOR 25 | EDM 16 | MDO 27 | NHM 15 | SNM 14 | BAL 13 | MOT | KTY | LVS$^1$ C | | 25th | 178 | |
| 2012 | Andretti Autosport | Dallara DW12 | 17 | Chevrolet | STP | ALA | LBH | SAO | INDY 26 | DET | TXS | MIL | IOW | TOR | EDM | MDO | SNM 15 | BAL | FON 21 | | | | | 27th | 41 | |
| 2013 | Dragon Racing | Dallara DW12 | 6 | Chevrolet | STP 20 | ALA 20 | LBH 27 | SAO 19 | INDY 32 | DET 22 | DET 10 | TXS 14 | MIL 13 | IOW 19 | POC 23 | TOR 16 | TOR 15 | MDO 19 | SNM 21 | BAL 8 | HOU 14 | HOU 12 | FON 24 | 21st | 236 | |
| 2014 | KV Racing Technology | Dallara DW12 | 17 | Chevrolet | STP 11 | LBH 9 | ALA 18 | IMS 23 | INDY 15 | DET 14 | DET 22 | TXS 17 | HOU 15 | HOU 17 | POC 15 | IOW 17 | TOR 19 | TOR 21 | MDO 20 | MIL 18 | SNM 16 | FON 17 | | 21st | 291 | |
| 2015 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara DW12 | 8 | Chevrolet | STP | NLA | LBH 10 | ALA | IMS 17 | | DET | DET | TXS | TOR 16 | FON | MIL | IOW | MDO | POC | SNM 13 | | | | 25th | 95 | |
| 2015 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara DW12 | 17 | Chevrolet | | | | | | INDY 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 25th | 95 | |
| 2017 | Juncos Racing | Dallara DW12 | 17 | Chevrolet | STP | LBH | ALA | PHX | IMS | INDY 15 | DET | DET | TXS | ROA | IOW | | | | | | | | | 26th | 80 | |
| 2017 | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara DW12 | 7 | Honda | | | | | | | | | | | | TOR 11 | MDO | POC 21 | GTW 11 | WGL | SNM | | | | 26th | 80 |
    $^1$ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win) | Top 10s (Non-podium) | Indianapolis 500 Wins | Championships |
| 7 | 8 | 63 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |

#### Indianapolis 500

| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
| 2010 | Dallara | Honda | 32 | 23 | Bryan Herta Autosport |
| 2011 | Dallara | Honda | DNQ | DNQ | Conquest Racing |
| 2012 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 24 | 26 | Andretti Autosport/AFS Racing |
| 2013 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 27 | 32 | Dragon Racing |
| 2014 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 32 | 15 | KV Racing Technology |
| 2015 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 28 | 23 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2017 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 31 | 15 | Juncos Racing |

### Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
| 2014 | Starworks Motorsport | P | Riley Mk XXVI DP | Dinan (BMW) 5.0 L V8 | DAY 17 | | | | | | | | | | | 54th | 16 |
| 2014 | Starworks Motorsport | P | Riley Mk XXVI DP | Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo | | SEB 17 | LBH | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | IMS | ELK | COA | PET | 54th | 16 |
| 2018 | AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports | P | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 12 | SEB 11 | LBH 11 | MDO 6 | DET 8 | WGL 9 | MOS 9 | ELK 13 | | | | 13th | 211 |
| 2018 | AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports | P | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | | | | | | | | | LGA 8 | PET 12 | | 13th | 211 |
| 2019 | DragonSpeed | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 1 | SEB | MDO | WGL | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET | | | | 8th | 35 |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||||

### Complete Global RallyCross Championship results
#### Supercar

| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | GRC | Points |
| 2016 | AD Racing | Ford Fiesta ST | PHO1 11 | PHO2 11 | DAL DNS | DAY1 WD | DAY2 WD | MCAS1 | MCAS2 C | DC | AC | SEA | LA1 | LA2 | 20th | 3 |