Oriol Servia rides again for Panther/DRR

Spaniard re-ups with Chevrolet-powered team for 2013

The Panther/Dreyer and Reinbold Racing collaboration will continue in next season’s IZOD IndyCar Series championship, and so will Oriol Servia’s tenure as driver of the No. 22 Chevrolet.

Both team and driver were stuck with a slow Lotus engine for the first four races of the season before a welcome switch to Chevy power enabled them to be much more competitive and collect four top-5 finishes in the final 11 events.

However, the most memorable aspect of their campaign was Servia’s ability to charge from the back of the grid and make himself a force to be reckoned with. The team only had two top-10 starts all season (Mid-Ohio and Fontana) — and seven starts from 20th or worse. But the Spaniard still managed to pass a record 107 cars in 2012.

“We had several great on-track performances this past season, including our 4th place finish at the Indianapolis 500, but we’re not satisfied,” said Servia in a team release. “Our goal is to win that race and contend week in and week out for wins and podiums at all races. Continuity is very important in our sport and now we’ll be able to build upon our successes in a second year together.”

Co-owners Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl were pleased to be able to land Servia’s services again, with Buhl calling the decision to bring him back a “no-brainer.”

“To be able to continue building on-track momentum and a strong working relationship between Oriol and our technical team was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” said Buhl in the same release. “We believe Oriol gives us the best chance for us to win the Indianapolis 500 and compete for wins.”