Heads-up, boys and girls: Despite having a title to defend, the Andretti Autosport gang is in attack mode for 2013.
After claiming the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship with American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, the team proceeded to lose some strong engineering talent to other squads in the paddock. But as SPEEDTV.com's Marshall Pruett reports, AA has filled those open positions nicely.
Craig Hampson, who helped engineer Sebastien Bourdais' electrifying run of four consecutive Champ Car World Series titles, has now joined up with AA to work on James Hinchcliffe's No. 27 program. Marco Andretti will also be getting a new engineer in 2013 — Blair Perschbacher, who's moving up from Firestone Indy Lights.
Last but certainly not least, Pruett writes that a formal announcement for a fourth Andretti car will be made shortly, with longtime engineer Michael Cannon on board for that program.
As for who the driver will be, that's still anybody's guess.
Several notables are still looking for a ride going into 2013, including former Team Penske pilot Ryan Briscoe and Venezuela's E.J. Viso. Technically, Justin Wilson is a free agent as well, but it seems inevitable that he'll re-up with Dale Coyne's Honda-powered outfit.
