AGR to field a fifth car

by Edmund Jenks | August 12, 2009 at 06:41 am

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This is good news that AGR is adding a fifth driver to its line-up. The choice of Franck Montagny is brilliant, in that it adds to the ranks of drivers in the IRL, a driver that has had success in the ChampCar World Series (Second at Long Beach 2008) and gives Will Power a partner in the exclusive category of a Transition Player driving for an established IRL team (Will Power drives for Team Penske).

Andretti Green Racing announced today it will team with Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. (AFS), to run Franck Montagny in a fifth entry later this month in the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. Montagny, who made seven starts for Andretti Green’s American Le Mans Series program in 2008, will pilot the #25 AFS Dallara/Honda/Firestone alongside Andretti Green’s existing four driver lineup that includes Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick.

AFS is one of the nation’s largest multi-family automatic fire sprinkler contractors and is familiar to Firestone Indy Lights fans through AFS Racing, which teamed with Andretti Green Racing to win the 2008 series title. AFS/Andretti Green currently holds down the top two spots in the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights championship standings with drivers J.R. Hildebrand and Sebastian Saavedra.

During his stint with Andretti Green last year, Montagny teamed with a variety of co-drivers and piloted the team’s LMP2-class Acura to an overall ALMS victory at Belle Isle and an additional LMP2 win at Laguna Seca. Montagny’s racing resume also features seven Formula 1 starts, all in 2006 with Super Aguri, and stints as a Formula 1 test driver and third driver. The 31-year old Frenchman owns four top-five finishes in his last four starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans including a runner-up finish earlier this summer.