Oriol Servià Imbers (born 13 July 1974) is a Spanish

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

who competed most notably in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

. He raced for

Dragon Racing DS Penske (formerly Dragon Racing) is an auto racing team that is involved in many areas of motorsport. The team is based in the United States, but once competed under a French license. DS Penske was founded in 2007 as Dragon Racing by Americans ...

in the 2014–15 Formula E season, and left the series prior to the 2015 Miami ePrix to become managing director for the technical and commercial partnerships of Dragon Racing. Servià holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the

Polytechnic University of Catalonia The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (, , ; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest polytechnic university in Catalonia, Spain. UPC's objectives are based on internationalization, as it is one of Europe's techni ...

. Since 2018 he also serves as

pace car In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable th ...

driver at IndyCar races outside the Indianapolis 500.

Racing career

Early career

Born in

Pals Pals () is a medieval town in Catalonia, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of con ...

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, Servià started his career in

go-karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

at a local kart track where he stayed until he was 19, before racing in several

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

championships. In 1998, he moved to the Dayton Indy Lights series in America. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, Servià won the Indy Lights championship over closest rival

Casey Mears Casey James Mears (born March 12, 1978) is an American professional off-road racing, off-road and stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang, Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Garage 66. He ...

. He had no wins that year but five runner-up finishes. In

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, Servià joined the

PPI Motorsports PPI Motorsports was an American racing team which competed in CART, NASCAR and various off-road racing circuits. The team had one of the few remaining single car operations in NASCAR until 2006. Early years PPI, short for Precision Preparation, ...

team in the

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

series, as teammate to

Cristiano da Matta Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born 19 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional racing driver. He won the CART Championship in 2002, and drove in Formula One with the Toyota team from 2003 to 2004. Biography Origins and early career ...

. Servià moved on to race for the Sigma Autosport (for 2001),

Patrick Racing Patrick Racing was an auto racing team in United States Auto Club, USAC, Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART, Champ Car World Series, Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. Patrick Racing was started by Pat Patrick (auto racing), U.E. "Pat" Patri ...

(from the middle of

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

to the end of

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, finishing 6th in the championship that year), and

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known ...

(in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, scoring some of the underfunded team's best ever results) teams. Servià also practiced for the

2002 Indianapolis 500 The 86th Indianapolis race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 26, 2002. It was part of the 2002 IndyCar Series season, 2002 Indy Racing League season. Rookie Tomas Scheckter led 85 laps, and appeared ...

for

Walker Racing Walker Racing was a racing team founded by Derrick Walker in 1991 racing originally in the CART Championship Car series. It last competed in the United SportsCar Championship under the name of Team Falken Tire until Falken Tire pulled out of n ...

and

Conquest Racing Conquest Racing is an auto racing team based in Indianapolis, United States that currently competes in the Ferrari Challenge North America as well as the GTD Pro and GTD classes of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. They previously competed in ...

although he failed to get a car into the field.

2005–2006

After starting the 2005 season for Coyne, Servià moved to the

Newman/Haas Racing Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in CART, Champ Car, and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automo ...

team after two races to replace injured

Bruno Junqueira Bruno Junqueira (born November 4, 1976) is a Brazilian race car driver who most recently competed in the IRL IndyCar Series. He is a former Formula 3000 champion and three-time runner-up in the Champ Car World Series. Racing career Early ca ...

. On 28 August 2005, Servià picked up his first-ever Champ Car victory at the

Molson Indy Montreal The Molson Indy Montreal was an annual Auto racing, auto race in Montreal, Quebec on the Champ Car, Champ Car World Series calendar. History Originally known as the Molson Indy 300, it was first held at Sanair Super Speedway, an oval track, from ...

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, also spelled ''Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve'' (), is a motor racing Race track, circuit on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the venue for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Form ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The win was controversial, as

Timo Glock Timo Glock (; born 18 March 1982) is a German racing driver, who competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Dörr Motorsport. Glock competed in Formula One between and . Glock raced in Formula One for Jordan, Toyota, Virgin and Marussi ...

, gambling on fuel, was forced to pull over and allow Servià to take the lead on the final lap after cutting the final chicane while blocking Servià a second time. Glock had been warned about an earlier unfair attempt. Servià ultimately finished as championship runner-up behind team-mate

Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (; born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver who currently races in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota in the Hypercar category. He is one of the most successful dr ...

. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

he joined

PKV Racing Padayatt Kesavapillai Vasudevan Nair (2 March 1926 – 12 July 2005), popularly known as PKV, was an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Kerala from 1978 to 1979. He was a Member of the Lok Sabha from 1957 to 1 ...

, alongside

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

rookie

Katherine Legge Katherine Anne Legge ( ; born 12 July 1980) is a British professional auto racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship. She holds the record for the fastest qu ...

, with team co-owner

Jimmy Vasser James "Jimmy" Vasser Jr. (born November 20, 1965) is an American former racing driver who competed primarily in the Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART series and Champ Car World Series, Champ Car. Vasser won ten CART series races and won the ...

scheduled to do a partial season (although Vasser only drove in the season opener at

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

). Servià ended the season 11th in the standings with one podium finish, a third at

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

2007

Without a ride at the beginning of the 2007 season, Servià replaced the injured

Paul Tracy Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian professional auto racing driver who participated in Champ Car World Series, the IndyCar Series, and the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). He started kart racing at age five and quick ...

Forsythe Championship Racing Forsythe Championship Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing. The team won th ...

. Despite little time in the new

Panoz DP01 The Panoz DP01 is an open-wheel race car that was produced by Élan Motorsport Technologies at Braselton, Georgia, United States. It was developed for use in the 2007 Champ Car World Series season, replacing the aging de facto-spec Lola chassis ...

chassis, Servià earned a runner-up finish in his debut with the team. He then finished 4th in his second replacement start, which earned him a seat for the rest of the season, as he replaced teammate

Mario Domínguez Mario Domínguez (born December 1, 1975, in Mexico City) is a Mexican racing driver. He has competed in the CART and CCWS Champ Car series and later the IndyCar Series. Early career Domínguez first began racing in 1987 driving go-karts. He w ...

at Forsythe. For the season, Servià scored two podiums and four top-five finishes in 11 starts with Forsythe Racing. At San Jose, Servià earned a third-place finish after leading a race high 42 laps. But on 12 September 2007 it was announced that Forsythe Championship Racing had named

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

driver David Martinez to drive the No. 7 INDECK Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone for the final two Champ Car World Series races of the season. Luckily for Servià in October he was named the new pilot of the No. 22 Pay By Touch PKV Racing Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone entry replacing

Tristan Gommendy Tristan Emmanuel Benoît Gommendy (born 4 January 1979) is a French professional racing driver who last competed in the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Team. Racing career Early career Born in Le Chesnay, Yvelines, Gommendy began his prof ...

for these two races, because Gommendy had some unresolved business situation. The veteran driver finished in the top ten in all but one start this season, and despite missing the season opener, finished sixth in the Series standings.

2008

On 3 January 2008 PKV Racing announced that popular Spanish driver Servià, who had finished sixth in the 2007 Champ Car World Series, would return to the series for

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

with PKV Racing. However, following Champ Car's unification with the

, the team fields cars for Servià and

Will Power William Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and has won the IndyCar Championship twice, in ...

in the unified IndyCar Series, under the KV Racing name following Dan Pettit's departure. Servià finished 11th at the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

, impressive due to his 25th place start. He stayed in the top 15 for most of the race. A week later, he had a remarkable run at

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. After falling back to 26th position and losing a lap early in the race due to contact with

Enrique Bernoldi Enrique Antônio Langue e Silvério de Bernoldi (; born 19 October 1978) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who raced for the Arrows Formula One team in 2001 and 2002, and was the test driver for British American Racing (later Honda) be ...

, he immediately regained his lap on the restart and steadily moved through the field to finish 6th. Following unsuccessful races in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Servià improved his best finish in an IRL-spec race by finishing 4th in the

Detroit Indy Grand Prix The Detroit Grand Prix (currently branded as the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation for sponsorship reasons) is an IndyCar Series race weekend held on a temporary circuit in Detroit, Michigan. The race has been held from ...

. The final race of the season at the

Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is an inactive tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Joliet, Illinois. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is currently own ...

brought in

CDW CDW Corporation is an American multi-brand provider of innovative information technology services, serving business, government, education, and healthcare sectors across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Headquartered in Vernon ...

as a new sponsor. The season finished with Servià racking up seven top-10 finishes, five top-5 finishes, and a 4th-place best finish.

2009

Servià was sidelined for the first three races of the IndyCar Series leading into the

. He signed a deal with

Rahal Letterman Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Zionsville, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 5 ...

to compete in the Indianapolis 500. He qualified on the third day of qualifying at an average speed of 220.984, and finished 26th in the race after dropping out with mechanical problems. He then signed on with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for the Mid-Ohio race after serving as an advisor to Tony Kanaan at Andretti Green Racing.

2011

Due to sponsorship issues at Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, Servià sat out the 2010 IndyCar season. However, after picking up Telemundo and CDW as sponsors, Servià was able to make his return for the 2011 season. He had his best season since 2005, by finishing with three podiums, six top 5s, and eleven top 10s on his way to finishing 4th in the points. Servià also finished runner-up in the controversial race at

2011 MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 The 2011 MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 was the fourth running of the New Hampshire 225 after a 13-year sabbatical and the thirteenth round of the 2011 IndyCar Series season. It took place on Sunday, August 14, 2011. The race was contested over 2 ...

. With just 10 laps remaining, the green flag was displayed, which resulted in multiple crashes. As the race was then red flagged, with Servià in front, race control decided to reverse the order and declared

Andretti Autosport Andretti Global is an American motorsports organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, Indy NXT, Formula E, and joint entries in IMSA and the Australian Supercars Championship. Starting in 2026, Andretti will also operate the Cad ...

deifer

Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980) is an American professional racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. He currently competes part-time in the IndyC ...

as the winner.

and

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...

filed protests. After a hearing on 22 August, the result was upheld and the protests denied. Three weeks later, Servià would score his second runner-up of the season in the Baltimore Grand Prix.

2012

The 2012 Indycar Season saw a change for Servià, as he moved to the

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is an American automotive racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and Nitrocross. The team is owned by Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis BMW, Infiniti, Volkswagen, Mini (marque), MINI, and Subaru dealer D ...

team. The season started rough for Servià, due to the use of a Lotus motor that was not competitive compared to the

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

and

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

motors. At the Indianapolis 500, the team switched to Chevrolet power, and Servià's scored his first top 10 of the season. He went on to score three more top 5s to finish 13th in points.

2013

Servià began the 2013 Indycar season with the same team as last year, where he scored one top 5 finish at the 2013 São Paulo Indy 300. However his team ran into sponsorship problems following the

2013 Indianapolis 500 The 97th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 26, 2013. It was the premier event of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Tony Kanaan, a native of Brazil, was victorious on a record-set ...

. Servià was later signed to drive the

Panther Racing Panther Racing was an American open wheel auto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in the IndyCar Series. Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at the Indianapolis 500. Formation The team was ...

National Guard car for Texas and Iowa.

2015

Servià started the

2015 Indianapolis 500 The 2015 Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 24, 2015. It was the premier event of the 2015 IndyCar Series season, 2015 season of the IndyCar Series, Verizon IndyCar Series. Juan Pabl ...

in the 5th row in 13th place. He was unable to complete the race after a collision with Ed Carpenter and the official results had him in 29th place. After Justin Wilson's fatal crash at the

ABC Supply 500 The Pocono 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, located in the Pocono Mountains. The first Indy car race at Pocono was held in 1971. It was the first major event held at the track, shortly after its co ...

, Servià took over his car at Sonoma.

2017

In 2017, Oriol was signed to a three-race deal with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He raced at the 2017 Indianapolis 500, and the Detroit doubleheader, finishing 21st, 20th, and 19th, respectively.

2019

Servià drove in the 103rd running of the Indy 500 race in May with

Team Stange Racing Team Stange Racing was an American racing team that planned to compete in the ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Cup Series fielding the No. 79 Ford Mustang for Tarso Marques. The team had also previously competed in the IndyCar Series with Mot ...

who worked with Schmidt Peterson Motorsport according to their own Instagram-page as well as their website.

Career results

American open–wheel racing results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Indy Lights

CART/Champ Car

* ^ New points system implemented in

IndyCar Series

* Season still in progress. * ''¹ Run on same day.'' * ''² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.'' * ''³ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 Indianapol ...

died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.''

Indianapolis 500

Complete Formula E results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

*
IndyCar 36: Oriol Servià
nbsp;– IndyCar documentary {{DEFAULTSORT:Servia, Oriol 1974 births Living people Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Spanish racing drivers Catalan racing drivers Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indy Lights champions Indy Lights drivers IndyCar Series drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Formula E drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers Newman/Haas Racing drivers Team Penske drivers Dragon Racing drivers KV Racing Technology drivers Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers Andretti Autosport drivers Arrow McLaren SP drivers PacWest Racing drivers Panther Racing drivers Forsythe Racing drivers La Filière drivers