Profile: Franck Perera

By Andrew Cutler
March 18 2008

When Franck Perera signed with Conquest Racing earlier this year, he thought that he was heading into the CCWS for 2008: Now he finds himself as a rookie in the IndyCar ranks instead. Given his history, this unexpected new challenge should be no problem for the Frenchman, nicknamed "Fearless".

Perera made a name for himself in karting, winning five championships by age 15. By 2001, he had been signed to the Toyota Young Driver Program and was competeing in the Italian Formula Renault Winter Series. Moving up to the Formula Renault Italian Championship, he followed up an impressive rookie champaign of 2002 with a series championship in 2003, claiming five wins.

For 2004 Franck moved to the F3 Euro Series, claiming Rookie honors that year and finishing fourth in the series championship in 2005. For 2006 his long-time relationship with the Toyota Driver Program yeilded a testing seat with the Toyota F1 squad: he also ran a limited GP2 schedule, with a best finish of 2nd at Monaco. 

2007 saw Perera moving across the Atlantic to drive in the Champ Car Atlanic Series, the top rung of the "feeder" ladder to the (now defunct) CCWS. Franck never finished out of the top-five in any of the twevle events, notching two wins and claiming Rookie of the Year honors.

Franck signed with Conquest Racing for 2008, thinking that he would be in Champ Car. However, the CCWS/IRL merger soon had him looking at a future in the IndyCar ranks. His season started reasonably enough, but financial issues (with his main sponsor) soon had Conquest showing Pereara the door. After a few races in the Firestone Indy Lights Series during mid-season, including a win at Infineon, Franck was tapped by AJ Foyt racing to run a second car at the IndyCar regular season finale at Chicagoland, finishing in 15th spot.

Foyt is rumored to be interested in running two cars full time in '09, with Perera as teammate to Vitor Meira, if sponsorship funding can be found.