Kart-turned-car driver Mitch Cunningham heads back to the United States next week to prepare for a drive in the 2008 Indy Pro Series.
Cunningham, 21, the young brother of 2003 world karting champion and 2005 Indy Pro Series champion Wade Cunningham, has been evaluating various US-based single-seater seriessince completing his debut season in the Pacific Formula Ford 2000 series in the US late last year.
On Saturday he concluded an Indy Pro Series (IPS) deal with Ontario, Canada-based team Brian Stewart Racing for whom Wade is now a drivers' coach.
The deal is for the four double-header road course rounds of the 2008 series.
"We had been looking at the various options but the obvious ones - like Star Mazda and Champ Car Atlantic - all cost moonbeams. IPS was always a possibility because of the contacts Wade has made there, but again, all the good drives there were snapped up pretty quickly."
The first is round the streets of St Petersburg in Florida on April 5-6, the second at the historic Watkins Glen circuit in New York on July 5, followed by the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the Mid-West on July 19-20 and the Infineon Raceway in Northern California's Napa Valley on August 23-24.
Cunningham will return home after the first two races at St Petersburg to race in Zealand, but will return and remain in the US - in Indianapolis - for the rest of the season.
Wade Cunningham won the IPS at his first attempt in 2005 and for the past two years finished in the top three. This year, however, he has decided to focus all his energies on getting a drive in the Indianapolis 500.
In his debut year in cars last year, Mitch Cunningham finished fifth in the Pacific FF2000 series in the United States and sixth in the just completed Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand.
