With Dario Franchitti having switched to NASCAR for the 2008 season, Andretti Green Racing has confirmed the signing of Japanese driver Hideki Mutoh to replace the Scotsman.
The 25-year-old will graduate to the IndyCar Series on the back of a successful rookie campaign in the Indy Pro Series during 2007, where he won twice while driving for the
Super Aguri Panther Racing team to finish second in the championship standings behind Briton Alex Lloyd.
While Lloyd has signed to Chip Ganassi's development programme for 2008 and is expected to complete some IndyCar series races, Mutoh can look forward to a season in the #27 AGR entry, where he will line-up alongside the returning Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick.
"I am very excited to be joining Andretti Green Racing," Mutoh, who finished eighth on his one previous IndyCar outing for Panther in the 2007 season finale, said. "The team's record is very impressive and I am hopeful that I can contribute to its future success.
"I am very eager for the 2008 season to begin and am looking forward to working with all of my new team-mates. I wish to thank Andretti Green and Honda for giving me this great opportunity."
AGR chairman Michael Andretti admitted he had been keeping a close eye on Mutoh from the time he first stepped into the Indy Pro Series arena and said he was confident that he would be a successful addition to the team's line-up for the new season – with the Japanese rookie having three solid, experienced partners to learn from on making the step up.
"We've been impressed with Hideki since the first open test of 2007 when I got a look at him in an Indy Pro Series car for the first time," he said. "I think he's got a lot of talent and a lot of potential, especially in our system at Andretti Green.
"He is going to have three great team-mates to lean on and that should really help his learning curve as a rookie."
The sponsorship deal for Mutoh's entry has yet to be announced, although team co-owner Kim Green told the official IndyCar Series website that the new concept would be both 'interesting and very exciting' when it is unveiled.
![Hideki Mutoh - Super Aguri Panther Racing [pic credit: IRL/Snoddy]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/343599.jpg)
