American driver Sabré Cook makes her return to the Road to Indy in 2020, as she will combine the W-Series season will a partial Indy Pro 2000 Championship with Team Benik.
Sabré Cook, one of the revelations of the inaugural W-Series championship, announced that she will make her racing return on home soil, combining a program in the women-only series with a partial campaign in the Indy Pro 2000.
Cook, a winner of the Infiniti Engineering Academy as well as former karting champion, previously said that IndyCar would have been her long-term career goal.
The Indy Pro 2000 Championship presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as Pro Mazda Championship, is the second step on the Road to Indy program, representing an intermediate level between the Cooper Tires U.S. F2000 Championship and Indy Lights.
The winner will get a chance to drive in IndyCar's closest feeder series, the IndyLights championship.
Sabré Cook joins forces with Team Benik and will drive a partial campaign next to the full W-Series season, where she gained a spot in the top-12 in 2019 thanks to an impressive second half of the season. Cook started to prove her pace in Misano and went on to collect more solid results at the Norisring and in Assen, where she also claimed a podium finish in the non-championship race.
Sabré Cook's racing season will thus start from the Streets of St. Petersburg (12th to 14th March). The Colorado-native will then come back behind the wheel at COTA (23th to 26th April), Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Indy GP weekend (7th to 9th May), Road America (19th to 21th June), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (14th to 16th August) and at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (14th to 16th August).
She returns to the Road to Indy where she drove in a part time schedule in 2018, combining U.S. F2000 and the US F4, where she started her career in the American formula ladder after gaining an international status in karting.
“I’m very excited to rejoin Team Benik and my Road to Indy campaign,” announced Sabré.
“I think supplementing my second season in W Series competition with another great open wheel series like the Indy Pro 2000 Championship will only accelerate my development as a driver. Benik, my partners, and I have been working very hard to make a feasible program for this season, and I really appreciate everyone’s efforts to make this happen.”
“I’m very excited to have Apple Motorsports, GJ Home Builders, Alpine Bank, Grand Junction Motor Speedway, and Bell Helmets on board for another season of competition." - she added.
"I’m also ecstatic to welcome Xtract Technologies and Iron Neck as new partners to my program. Without all these wonderful people to support me I wouldn’t have this opportunity in 2020. We’re all excited for a great season!”
“Sabré was with us in a partial USF2000 season in 2018, and we are happy to have her back in 2020,” added Team Benik's Nick Mitchell. “She has a lot of racing planned in 2020, and we look forward to supporting her in her six events in North America and can’t wait to get to St. Pete. She has worked for this opportunity, and we are very happy to be part of it with her.”
The only American representative on the all-female F3 grid will also benefit from the inclusion of the US-based round of Austin in the W-Series calendar, as part of the F1 supporting schedule.
The extended milage will certainly play a key role in Cook's sophomore W Series season, as well as towards her IndyCar dream. Her 2020 racing commitments start in three weeks time in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In Sabré's words:
"I’m so excited for this opportunity and thankful to all my sponsorship partners and team for making this happen. I’m pleased to have returning support as well as some new people involved!"