Giaffone lands Buhl seat.

Felipe Giaffone will take over the #24 Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold ride from the recently-retired Robbie Buhl for the remainder of the 2004 Indy Racing League season, beginning with next month's Indianapolis 500.

The 2001 series rookie of the year will slip into the cockpit at this week's open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and is expected to make his first race appearance of the year in the championship's 'big race' at the end of next month. Giaffone has 39 IRL starts to his name, but was left on the sidelines for 2004 when sponsor Hollywood withdrew from the series. The Brazilian has one win, at Kentucky in 2002, and led 285 career laps in his time with Mo Nunn Racing.

"We couldn't be more pleased to have Felipe join the team," said team co-owner Dennis Reinbold, "He was the first call that Robbie and I made, and we're eager to get started with him on board. We have great expectations for the season, and we'll work hard to compete for wins all year long."

Giaffone endured an interrupted 2003 campaign with the Nunn team, after breaking his leg at Kansas Motor Speedway. He returned to run the final three races of the year after missing five mid-season events. The loss of his sponsor then came as a further blow, as a lack of finance made it impossible for him to find a seat for the new season. The Dreyer & Reinbold operation thus comes as something of a blessing.

"It's a great opportunity for me to get back in the car, and I'm very excited to be here," Giaffone admitted, "Everything happened really fast, so I'm still learning with the team, but I know we're going to have a great time. I want to thank Dennis and Robbie for their confidence in me, because they've got a great facility and good people to work with. The team really wants to grow and win races, and we're going to work hard to achieve those goals."

Buhl announced his retirement to the team last Thursday, and Giaffone was at the Dreyer & Reinbold race shop on Friday morning to meet with his prospective new employers. A deal was in place by Friday evening, and the weekend was spent pouring a new seat and making mechanical adjustments for the new driver ahead of this week's open test.

"We couldn't have planned it any better," admitted experienced engineer Owen Snyder, "Starting the month of May, we'll have days and days of running to get acclimated to each other. With all the rule changes, it's hard to put a new combination together to be ready to win races without track time. Now, we've got the whole month to learn from each other and be more competitive."