Theo Pourchaire is a French Formula 2 champion that was drafted into the Arrow McLaren NTT IndyCar Series team on short notice. He made his debut at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (subbing for the injured David Malukas) where he qualified 22^nd and finished 11^th.  He duly impressed the team to where they gave him additional starts at six additional road/street circuits where he improved and earned his first Top 10 finish at Detroit. He barely missed the Firestone Fast Six there where he qualified seventh. The team conducted an oval test with him and actually had signed him to a contract to finish out the season, but then Nolan Siegel ended up also impressing the team and they signed him instead. As up and down as this story is, it got more interesting when Alexander Rossi broke his thumb in Toronto practice, so they called Theo again and he flew a red-eye from France to get to Toronto just in time to qualify and race where he started 26^th and finished 14^th! 

We caught up with him at his first race in Long Beach and spoke with him immediately following the Sunday warm-up. He’s a really enthusiastic and friendly guy that exudes happiness that few drivers do. A multi-time racing champion, Theo Pourchaire is the real deal. Enjoy!

By Larry Mason

Copyright © 2024 Larry Mason

A friendly smile and happy to be part of the NTT IndyCar Series, F2 champion Theo Pourchaire has earned the respect of the Arrow McLaren team in his very first start.

Theo Pourchaire waves to the fans just prior to the start of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. He gained more positions in the race than any other driver!

A winner on the streets of Monaco, Pourchaire knows how to navigate hairpin turns on narrow street circuits. He’s doing so here at Long Beach’s Turn 11.

Pourchaire was on a mission to learn the track and hit every apex on his Indy car debut. He’s doing just that here in Turn 9 at Long Beach.

Pourchaire is inch-perfect hitting the apex in the fountain turn at Long Beach. By not riding up on the inside berm all the way, he keeps the maximum tire contact patch on the ground.

In contrast to the fountain turn, here Pourchaire hammers the curbing and gets some serious air under the right front tire. Cutting the apex here opens up the radius of the off-camber corner to be able to accelerate hard back on to Shoreline Drive.

Like racing stars Paul Tracy and Scott Pruett before him, Pourchaire made his Indy car debut at Long Beach and made his Sunday drive through the park seem natural. He impressed the people who could make it more than just a one-off drive. Where will he end up in 2025? Stay tuned…

Interview and photos Copyright © by Larry Mason (unless otherwise noted)