Louis Foster has claimed the coveted NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year award, continuing the tradition of British success in North America’s premier open-wheel championship.

The 22-year-old Englishman secured the honour in the season finale, fending off former Ferrari F1 reserve driver Robert Shwartzman to seal the title by just two points – the closest winning margin since the current points system was introduced in the 1990s.

“I’m super pleased,” admitted a relieved Foster who is a Team UK member of the Motorsport UK Academy. “I think one of the main goals we had this year was to win this title. A lot of bad luck at the start of the year meant it was probably closer than I would have wanted to be, honestly.”

British drivers have long left their mark on American open-wheel racing. Since the celebrated ‘British Invasion’ of the mid-1960s, stars from the UK have been at the forefront of competition and success. Jim Clark and Graham Hill stunned the locals by winning back-to-back Indianapolis 500s in 1965 and 1966, capitalising on European rear-engined chassis technology.

Nigel Mansell made history in 1993, winning the IndyCar World Series and becoming the only driver to hold the Formula 1 World Championship and an IndyCar title simultaneously.

Dan Wheldon matched and surpassed Mansell’s feats by winning both the US championship title and the Indianapolis 500 in 2005, before adding another Indy 500 victory in 2011.

Dario Franchitti MBE elevated British success even further. The Scot claimed four IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championships (2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011) and triumphed in the Indianapolis 500 three times (2007, 2010, and 2012).

Foster now joins an elite group of British drivers to earn Rookie of the Year honours. Mansell was the first in 1993, followed by Wheldon in 2003. More recently, Alex Lloyd (2010) and Ed Jones (2017) also added their names to the distinguished list – now proudly joined by Louis Foster.