Dragon’s Leaders Circle designation explained

Shortly before the IZOD IndyCar Series race in São Paulo, Brazil, it came to light that Lotus Dragon Racing’s Leaders Circle entry is their #6 car being piloted by Katherine Legge.

This prompted some confusion. It was widely reported after the additional Leaders Circle teams were revealed that Dragon had been awarded the designation for Sébastien Bourdais and their #7 entry. The later revelation that Legge is driving the team’s LC entry appeared to have been a change from the original announcement.

“Because their entrants had not participated in the 2011 season, Dragon Racing was afforded the opportunity to assign a driver to that LC position,” states Marc Koretzky, INDYCAR’s Chief Operating Officer.  “Dragon won its place on the LC roster based on its presentation as an organization as a whole.”

Lotus Dragon Racing was the only team vying for a Leaders Circle position that had two entries eligible for the program. All other teams were single-car teams or were part of a multi-car team that only had one eligible entry.