"Sebastian has excelled at every level of racing in which he has competed," said TRUECAR CEO Scott Painter. "We expect 2013 to be Sebastian's finest year yet."
It's reported that Saavedra had recently been in talks with Andretti Autosport about being a part of their four-man line-up in an AFS Racing co-branded entry, but that door closed last week when Andretti instead teamed up with HVM Racing to put EJ Viso into the seat instead.
Saavedra's deal at Dragon similarly has it's own knock-on effect on the 2013
IndyCar driver market, with former Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe having previously thought to be in with a chance of the seat but now looking increasingly unlikely to be able to secure a full-season race deal in time for the first race of the year at St Petersburg on March 24.
The news of Saavedra's signing also effectively ends the prospects of a race seat for Britain's Katherine Legge, who had hoped to continue with the team this season after a truncated outing with the squad in 2012.
"Feeling pretty sick to my stomach right now," she admitted on Twitter after the news broke on Thursday. "Thank you all for the support, i will have a statement shortly."
As for Saavedra himself, he was just jubilant at the news and said that he couldn't wait to get started on his new
IndyCar challenge.
"It has been a long off-season for everyone who loves racing, and I have been ready to get back in a car since Fontana!" he said.