KV Racing confirms first driver for 2010 season

The speculation went from whispers to a dull roar earlier this week after team co-owner Jimmy Vasser posted "Great news is coming today from Tokyo. Stay tuned!!!" via his twitter account. Today, KV Racing Technology has made it official, announcing Takuma Sato as their first confirmed driver for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

“We are very excited to have been able to put this deal together with Takuma and his group," said KVRT co-owner Jimmy Vasser. "I can't wait to see what I know will be a extremely fast pace by Taku on the road courses and look forward to working with him and getting him up to speed on the ovals. I have no doubt that Taku will be right on the pace immediately. Taku's knowledge and experience will be a great asset and his great sense of humor and easy manner will add positive energy to our team.

The veteran driver, known as “Taku”, is best known to open wheel fans from his tenured appearances in Formula 1, where he contested 7 seasons with several teams, including Jordan-Honda, British American Racing (BAR)-Honda & Super Aguri-Honda.

“This is a very exciting time for me and all my supporters,” Taku said. “I have really missed racing last year and can’t wait to get started in this new challenge with such a great team. To me, KV Racing Technology is a team with massive potential and great team spirit. With such a great champion as Jimmy leading the team, I am really confident that we will soon be a strong combination. I am also really motivated by the chance to be fighting at the front of the field, something I have missed in recent seasons. I want to thank sincerely everyone who has continued to support me through difficult times and look forward to enjoying success together very soon.”

No word on the primary sponsorship or whether the team will field a fulltime second car, for which there is a long list of willing candidates, including Oriol Servia, Paul Tracy (who is already confirmed to run a handful of races with the team, including the Indy 500 & the 2 Canadian races) and E.J. Viso, who is just coming off of a very successful test with the team.

OpenWheelWorld.net will stay on top of this developing story and update you as more details become available.