The Montreal native, who scored four podium finishes for Carlin Racing in 2017, including a win at Road America, will have Paysafe as primary partner of the #16 car, which was last raced by Oriol Servia in the Indy 500 and Detroit double-header.

Claman De Melo said: “This opportunity marks an incredible moment for my career and for Canadian motorsport fans, as I’m getting that much closer to securing a full-time position with RLLR for next season.

“I want to extend a big thank you to my primary partner, Paysafe, for making a dream come true today and to Bobby Rahal for the incredible level of support he has provided towards getting me in the #16 Honda this season. It is an honor to drive for RLLR and I look forward to big things ahead.”

The team is expected to take advantage of the fact that next week’s ‘race weekend’ is effectively a four-day affair, with an open test on the Thursday.

Team co-owner Bobby Rahal, who told Motorsport.com last week that the deal was close, said: “We’re pleased that Zach has chosen Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to make his series debut. Zach had a very good year in the Indy Lights Series and we think that he has the ability to perform well in the IndyCar Series.

“We closely watched his performance at the recent Indy car test at Road America where he was the quickest of the rookies testing and we are confident that he can do a good, solid job for both himself and the team at Sonoma.

“Our goals for Zach are that he has a good, consistent race and gains experience, which is so important, and hopefully takes that experience to use as a stepping stone for 2018.”