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Tag: Simon Pagenaud

  • Simon Pagenaud would like another opportunity at Le Mans

    Simon Pagenaud would like another opportunity at Le Mans

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Winning a title in IndyCar hasn’t stopped Simon Pagenaud from wanting to return to Circuit de la Sarthe to finally get his first win in the worlds greatest endurance race.

    Speaking to the media yesterday at Martinsville Speedway, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Chevrolet in the Verizon IndyCar Series and 2016 IndyCar champion was asked if he had any desire to return to and compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans again one day.

    “Yes, definitely,” Pagenaud said. “It definitely haunts me every morning when I wake up. I finished second. Evidently, it was the closest margin in history. So I got unfinished business there for sure.”

    The French native was driving the No. 9 Team Peugeot Total 908 on the final stint when it finished second overall to the No. 2 Audi Sport R18 (driven by Andre Lotterer) in the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans. He finished a mere 14 seconds, 13.854 to be exact, behind Lotterer in what was the fourth closest finish in the history of Le Mans.

    It was Audi’s eighth win in 12 years in the twice around the clock race through the French countryside. They would go on to win the next three years in their reign of dominance of the event. This was a point that Pagenaud brought up in his availability.

    “The difficulty is you’ve got to be in a proper factory program like I was with Peugeot or Audi, for example, or Porsche to have a chance to win,” he said. “It’s such a difficult race with so many different factors in play. You need to be really well prepared and to do that, you need to be in a factory team.”

    He also added that his attention at this time is on IndyCar and Team Penske.

    “So right now with my priority being on IndyCar with Team Penske, it’s out of the question for now,” he added. “But hopefully someday, there will be an opportunity and I’ll definitely come back.”

  • Castroneves Takes the Pocono IndyCar Pole; Kimball Crashes Hard

    Castroneves Takes the Pocono IndyCar Pole; Kimball Crashes Hard

    Helio Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 Shell V-Power Team Penske Chevrolet, scored the pole for the ABC Supply 500, with his two Penske teammates nipping at his heels.

    “I didn’t lift,” Castroneves said. “It was a good day and a solid run. I could not believe it. The car was just unbelievable. It was flawless. I didn’t lift and just kept going.”

    This was Castroneves’ fourth Verizon P1 Award of the season and his 45th career pole. His pole-winning two-lap average speed was 220.530 mph.

    “Wow, that’s great,” Castroneves said of his pole honors. “I’m not done yet. I want to keep going and I’m full of energy.

    “These records come natural when you do your homework and right now it’s paying off.”

    Simon Pagenaud, driver of the No. 22 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet, brought home the second qualifying spot for Team Penske.

    “It was a good run,” Pagenaud said. “We did a good job understanding how the car was going to run during the race. The car was great. We had a bit of a scrub in Turn One and missed the balance there.”

    “But the car was good overall,” Pagenaud continued. “I’m super proud of the team with Penske one, two and three.”

    And yes, there was one more Team Penske member who brought home the third qualifying position, with a speed of 220.398 in spite of going out early to qualify.

    “I couldn’t believe my luck when I drew second again,” Will Power, driver of the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, said. “It was a really good run.

    “I felt really good about it and was really happy to end up third. I don’t think I could have done any better.”

    Unfortunately, there was one member of Team Penske who did not qualify well.  In fact, championship point’s leader Juan Pablo Montoya qualified in the 19th position after a disappointing run.

    “It just never turned,” Montoya said after his qualifying lap. “It’s what it is. You can’t change it.”

    Even though Montoya may be starting further back, each and every one of his Team Penske teammates seemed willing to do whatever they could to help.

    “Usually there are no team orders at Team Penske,” Pagenaud said. “At this point, I’ve got nothing to gain or lose. If Montoya’s not winning the race, it’s better that we go ahead and try to take points away from Rahal and Dixon for example.

    “If I can do anything to help Montoya I will. That’s from my own heart.”

    Josef Newgarden time trialed fourth and Graham Rahal, who is also in the championship hunt, qualified fifth.

    “To be in the top five and the top Honda is good,” Rahal said. “We’ll try to chase down Juan. He’s one heck of a competitor and I know he will be right on our heels.”

    The other major story of qualifying for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway was the scary crash of Charlie Kimball.  The rear end of his No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet kicked out, slamming into the SAFER barrier and then riding that into the catch fence.

    “We had a pretty good warm-up lap and the car was giving me a lot of confidence and I went into Turn 1 and I didn’t like the balance so I made some adjustments,” Kimball said. “I went into Turn 3 and got caught out by the wind and the 83 car rotated. Unfortunately, the car had been quick all morning and we were pretty close to the pole in qualifying.

    “I hit sideways and I don’t know what rolled under. I was looking down riding along the top of the wall for a while. Overall, I’m happy to get away with just a couple bumps and bruises.”

    Kimball was cleared from the infield care center, after getting two stitches in his chin. He also had a bruise on his and finger. But in typical Kimball style, the driver brushed it off with humor.

    “When you are this ugly to begin with it is hard to do much damage.”

    Kimball will have to start from the rear and also utilize a backup car.

    “Seeing us roll off the grid last isn’t going to be great but hopefully I’ll make it more exciting fighting my way through the field,” Kimball said. “The SAFER Barrier did its job. It’s not something you can test because you never want to crash but when it happens I’m pleased it was not worse.”

    There was one other incident in the qualifying session. Rookie Stefano Coletti kissed the SAFER Barrier in Turn 3 in the morning practice so did not attempt to qualify and will be starting dead last in his No. 4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet.

    The following is the full qualifying order for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway:

    Rank Car Driver Name C/A/E/T Lap 1 Lap 2 Total Time Avg Speed

    1 3 Castroneves, Helio D/C/C/F 40.8301 40.7916 01:21.6217 220.530

    2 22 Pagenaud, Simon D/C/C/F 40.7722 40.8660 01:21.6382 220.485

    3 1 Power, Will D/C/C/F 40.8435 40.8269 01:21.6704 220.398

    4 67 Newgarden, Josef D/C/C/F 40.9783 40.7876 01:21.7659 220.141

    5 15 Rahal, Graham D/H/H/F 40.8899 40.8844 01:21.7743 220.118

    6 26 Munoz, Carlos D/H/H/F 40.9475 40.9334 01:21.8809 219.831

    7 25 Wilson, Justin D/H/H/F 40.9580 40.9776 01:21.9356 219.685

    8 28 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/H/H/F 40.9596 40.9806 01:21.9402 219.672

    9 14 Sato, Takuma D/H/H/F 40.9649 41.0106 01:21.9755 219.578

    10 11 Bourdais, Sebastien D/C/C/F 40.9918 41.0050 01:21.9968 219.521

    11 9 Dixon, Scott D/C/C/F 41.1625 41.0410 01:22.2035 218.969

    12 10 Kanaan, Tony D/C/C/F 41.1741 41.0869 01:22.2610 218.816

    13 19 Vautier, Tristan D/H/H/F 41.1453 41.1982 01:22.3435 218.596

    14 41 Hawksworth, Jack D/H/H/F 41.2550 41.1887 01:22.4437 218.331

    15 7 Jakes, James D/H/H/F 41.2344 41.2413 01:22.4757 218.246

    16 98 Chaves, Gabby (R) D/H/H/F 41.3380 41.1731 01:22.5111 218.152

    17 18 Mann, Pippa D/H/H/F 41.3883 41.4192 01:22.8075 217.372

    18 5 Briscoe, Ryan D/H/H/F 41.5591 41.2980 01:22.8571 217.241

    19 2 Montoya, Juan Pablo D/C/C/F 41.8365 41.0386 01:22.8751 217.194

    20 8 Karam, Sage (R) D/C/C/F 41.6624 41.5167 01:23.1791 216.401

    21 20 Carpenter, Ed D/C/C/F 41.5783 41.6337 01:23.2120 216.315

    22 27 Andretti, Marco D/H/H/F 42.3788 41.3028 01:23.6816 215.101

    23 83 Kimball, Charlie D/C/C/F No Time DNQ

    24 4 Coletti, Stefano (R) D/C/C/F No Time DNQ

     

  • Will Power Overcomes Penalty to win Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

    Will Power Overcomes Penalty to win Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

    [media-credit name=”IndyCar.com” align=”alignright” width=”333″][/media-credit]Following a Chevrolet mandated engine change, Will Power was going to have to start 12th in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach despite qualifying second on Saturday. Power didn’t let them hold him back as he led the last 15 laps on his way to his second straight win of the season.

    “You tell him what he needs to do and he does,” team strategist Tim Cedric says. “This team never quits and this race wasn’t over till it was over.”

    Power was able to save fuel from when he pitted with 31 to go to make it to the end of the race.

    “After last week, you can never say never, but I thought it’d be very tough to win the race,” Power says. “The end there, I had to save so much fuel to get there but so happy for the Verizon and Chevy guys. We got a penalty and overcome it. I’ve been trying to win here for four years now.”

    When Simon Pagenaud headed down pit road with 16 to go, Power would take over the top spot and lead the whole way home for his 17th career win.

    “I actually used some fuel to get around some, but Tim was telling me that I had to save some fuel,” Power continues. “So I was trying to save as much fuel as I could while staying in front.”

    The win marked the third consecutive win this season for Team Penske as they won St. Petersburg with Helio Castroneves, followed by Barber and now Long Beach by Power. It marks Penske’s fifth win at Long Beach and their first since 2001.

    Pagenaud would come second for a career best finish after leading the most laps – 26.

    “It was great,” he says. “The car was fanstastic. The guys did such a good job. It’s a one-car team operation and we’re fighting against Penske and (Chip) Ganassi so hats off to the team.”

    James Hinchcliffe would round out the podium for his first IZOD IndyCar Series podium finish.

    “I feel really bad for Ryan (Hunter-Reay) because he drove a really good race,” Hinchcliffe. “I was following him through a lot of those passes he made, so I hate to have it at the expense to him. great job by the team with all the strategies today.”

    Ryan Hunter-Reay crossed the line third, but was given a 30-second penalty for avoidable contact after he spun Takumo Sato on the final lap. Hunter-Reay was credited with a sixth place finish, behind Tony Kanaan and JR Hildebrand.

    “I was told he was saving fuel and it looked like he was,” Hunter-Reay explains the incident with Sato. “He braked so early and I went to the inside there, I thought he’d give me a little room and he shut the door. I guess it was my fault. I’ll have to see where the penalty puts us. The team did a great job today. I love racing here. Anytime we don’t win here, we feel disappointed. Lots of side-by-side racing today, fun racing.”

    Pole qualifier Ryan Briscoe, who started 11th due to the engine change penalty, finished seventh while Sato was credited with a eighth finish after the spin.

    “On the last stint we had to work on the fuel mileage and on the very last lap Ryan Hunter-Reay basically took me out,” Sato says. “There was not enough depth on his overtaking maneuver. He had a chance for the last few corners so it’s very disappointing to finish the race this way.”

    While the first two races of the season had run fairly clean, the race at Long Beach saw its fair share of incidents. On lap one, front row starters Dario Franchitti and Josef Newgarden made contact, causing Newgarden to get into the wall. Newgarden was credited with a 26th place finish.

    “I saw one replay and I had a feeling that was going happen,” Newgarden says. “I got alongside him, gave him the inside and make slight contact, getting into the wall. It’s one of those tough breaks. Maybe I could’ve acted differently, I’ll review it and learn from it.”

    Franchitti came home 15th after complaining the car was lacking horsepower the majority of the race.

    On lap 25, the scariest wreck of the day happened when Marco Andretti catapulted over the right rear of Graham Rahal.

    “I’m good,” Andretti, who was credited with finishing 25th, says. “I’m sore. I feel for the guys. They put so much into the RC car and I just feel bad. We were about to work on making some ground. There’s a difference between blocking and chopping and that’s chopping. I was lucky I didn’t get upside down; I could’ve been killed.”

    Rahal wasn’t penalized by the officials for the incident, but was also out of the race, finishing 24th.

    “It’s a cluster back there,” Rahal says. “We were just trying to stay clean and by that time, he’d already hit me. I was just trying to stay underneath (Scott) Dixon and obviously I surprised Marco. He wasn’t going to make the corner no matter what. If he stayed beside me, he was going to overshoot it. It’s just frustrating. The car felt really strong.”

    On the same lap, Alex Tagliani suffered a flat tire and finished 21st.

    “As soon as it goes green, you can pass,” Tagliani says. “With being back in the pack like that, I passed (EJ) Viso and he pushed me into the wall. It’s hard to get disconnected.”

    EJ Viso served a penalty for avoidable contact and finished 12th.

    “The main problem occurred when Alex Tagliani made a very dangerous move passing two or three cars heading into the hairpin turn which is a very awkward place to overtake,” Viso says of his day. “I saw what he was doing and moved out of the way, but he was sideways coming out of the hairpin and when I attempted to pass he blocked me and I hit his tire and he spun. Because of the contact I was given a drive through penalty, which I feel was very unfair.”

    On the last lap, an incident happened in the final corner involving Castroneves, Oriol Servia and James Jakes.

    Power now leads the point standings, 24 points over teammate Castroneves heading into Brazil.

  • Simon Pagenaud To Drive For Sam Schmidt Motorsports in 2012

    On December 8th, Sam Schmidt announced that Simon Pagenaud would drive the Honda-powered Dallara for Sam Schmidt Motorsports in 2012.

    “I am delighted to be joining the IZOD Indy Car Series full time with Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Honda,” Pagenaud said. “The series represents the most competitive racing in the world right now, and I am really looking forward to the challenge of racing in a single-seater again. I have to thank Sam Schmidt Motorsports for giving me the opportunity and to continue with the Honda engineers at HPD. It is the best situation I could wish for.”

    The 27-year-old frenchman has driven a variety of cars throughout his career. In 2011, he finished second in both the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans. He also raced V8 Supercars, Rally cars and made three IndyCar starts in 2011, filling in for injured drivers.

    “We are very fortunate to land a driver of Simon’s caliber for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season,” Schmidt said. “As all the teams work to develop the new cars and engines, his diverse experience will be invaluable to us. Simon has a strong relationship with Honda and its engineers, which is also a huge asset. This is a big day for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.”

    Pagenaud got his start racing go-karts and began moving his way up through the ranks throughout Europe from 1994 and 2005. In 2006, he made the move to Indianapolis and has since driven a variety of cars.

    “America has been a lucky charm to me, really,” Pagenaud said. “The start of it was 2006, when I won the Champ Car Atlantic Championship with Walker Racing, which allowed me to enter the Champ Car Series in 2007.”

    In his rookie season in 2007, he finished eighth in the standings.

    In 2008 and 2009, Pagenaud won five American Le Mans Series LMP1 races, seven poles and several podium finishes. In 2010, he won the American Le Mans Series LMP1 championship with four wins and three poles.

    Pagenaud’s car number and sponsorship package will be announced at a later date. The focus right now is on getting ready for 2012 with the new chassis that IndyCar is debuting.

    “I know 2012 will be a big challenge with the new Dallara chassis and being on a new team but, quite frankly, that is what is so interesting,” Pagenaud said. “To fulfill a lifelong dream to race an Indy car and to compete in the Indianapolis 500 is a special time in my life. I can’t wait for the start of the season in St Petersburg. I also want to especially thank Sam Schmidt for giving me the opportunity to drive for his team and for my friends at HPD.”