Michael Cannon, the IndyCar engineering mastermind thought-about by many as one of many largest offseason signings, has parted from Prema Racing, the sequence’ latest workforce, the place he’d solely weeks in the past joined as its head of engineering, a sequence supply confirmed to IndyStar.
Trackside On-line first reported the information. The workforce couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Cannon, who simply two months in the past left AJ Foyt Racing as its technical director, made his public debut with the workforce eight days in the past at Prema’s launch occasion at Basic Motors’ Technical Heart, the place workforce proprietor Rene Rosin, its IndyCar program CEO Piers Phillips, and full-time drivers Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman shared their first public feedback for the reason that workforce’s driver lineup was revealed this fall. It was there, too, that Prema confirmed off its Nos. 83 and 90 Chevy liveries for the season, in addition to the drivers’ shiny purple hearth fits and confirmed that Romain Grosjean would function Prema’s reserve driver in 2025 and that ex-IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe had been named the workforce’s sporting advisor.
IndyCar information: https://www.indystar.com/s
Within the background of a number of workforce images, Cannon might be seen decked out within the workforce’s all-red equipment, surfacing for the primary time since he helped set the groundwork for Foyt driver Santino Ferrucci’s ninth-place championship end, one of many season’s most-celebrated Cinderella tales.
Throughout his two-year tenure with Foyt that started with the 2023 season, Cannon served because the spark that helped Ferrucci take a front-row beginning spot in that season’s Indianapolis 500, resulting in a 4th-place end — a efficiency that helped generate talks that will ultimately result in Crew Penske, which had struggled in 500 qualifying for a pair years, initiating talks with AJ Foyt Racing that will result in a technical alliance.Within the first yr of that partnership, Crew Penske swept the entrance row, with a lot of the paddock . Andretti International driver Colton Herta was probably the most direct, quipping, “What an inexpensive strategy to rent (Michael) Cannon, proper?”
Earlier than becoming a member of Foyt, Cannon spent three seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing, a tenure that included serving as Scott Dixon’s race engineer throughout his dominant begin to the 2020 season that ended together with his sixth profession title. Cannon was additionally on-staff at CGR for Marcus Ericsson’s 2022 Indy 500 victory — the workforce’s first 500 win in a decade — in addition to Dixon’s back-to-back 500 poles in 2021-22.
Cannon’s tenure earlier than becoming a member of Ganassi included stints at Dale Coyne Racing, Andretti International and Ed Carpenter Racing, in addition to Gamers Forsythe Racing throughout it is dominant days in CART and Champ Automobile.
