IndyCar: Katherine Legge set to return to U.S. open-wheel racing in 2012

Katherine Legge is on the verge of becoming an Izod IndyCar Series driver.

The former Atlantics, Champ Car and DTM series driver has sponsorship for a full-time ride next season with a team to be determined later this week. Her deal with the team, when signed, will be two years with an option for a third.

Legge, 31, competed in Champ Car in 2006 for PKV Racing and in 2007 for Dale Coyne Racing. She won three races in Atlantics.

The English driver drove in DTM, the German touring-car series, from 2008 to 2010 before moving to Indianapolis to focus on an IndyCar ride.

Legge’s arrival in IndyCar comes at a good time for the series which has lost Danica Patrick to NASCAR. Simona De Silvestro (HVM Racing) is the only woman driver with a confirmed ride for next season. Ana Beatriz and Pippa Mann still hope to return to the series in 2012.