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Last year's hard work is paying off now, says Pagenaud

Verizon IndyCar Series points leader Simon Pagenaud says that his 2016 performances are the result of his and the team's hard work that appeared to go unrewarded last season. Anne Proffit reports

Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner

Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner

IndyCar Series

Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner
Podium: winner Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet, second place Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, third place Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner
Podium: winner Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet, second place Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, third place Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet race winner
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet

Sometimes it takes a while to get comfortable with a new team. When Simon Pagenaud left Schmidt Peterson Motorsports after the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season to join Team Penske, much was expected. After all, the 31-year-old Frenchman notched the first four IndyCar wins for the team, two in 2013 (Detroit and Baltimore) and coupled that with victories in the inaugural Indianapolis Grand Prix road course race and in the second Houston contest a year later.

Those victories – as well as Pagenaud’s wins in the American Le Mans Series – came with Honda power. When he moved to Team Penske in 2015 Pagenaud, along with engineer Ben Bretzman needed to learn a new engine, the new aero packages and how to work within the Penske culture. It wasn’t an immediate meld.

Although 2015 didn’t end on a high note for the #22 team, they’ve come out with guns blazing this year, producing two second-place results in the initial pair of races and following that with two victories. Those results see him lead the points standings by 48 points over reigning champion Scott Dixon, as the series heads back to Indianapolis for two races during the balance of May.

“It’s been a great start of the season,” he said. “I’m obviously feeling great. Most importantly, I feel like I’m driving really well.

“The whole team is in a very good dynamic and it’s exciting. Obviously we worked really hard in ’15, even though the results didn’t come. But now it’s paying off, and all that work we did last year is rewarded.” 

Oval improvements

Although weaned on road courses, Pagenaud is starting to feel like he can be competitive on ovals. In preparation, he and many other Verizon IndyCar Series competitors tested for Firestone at Texas Motor Speedway on Tuesday, focusing on preparations for racing, rather than qualifying.

Looking ahead to his fifth Indy 500, he commented: “I feel like I’ve got enough experience now to know which way the tire is going to go during a stint.

“I’ve been in Indianapolis for a few years now and, OK, it’s not as much experience as [Tony] Kanaan, for example, but it’s enough. It’s what I have for now. I just need to use people like Rick Mears, Helio [Castroneves], Juan Pablo [Montoya]… they have so much experience on these kinds of tracks and they can be a great help.”

While Pagenaud described his three-year home at Schmidt Peterson Motorsport as “a fantastic team with really, really good people onboard,” he’s aware that driving for Team Penske, gives him the best chance to win race in, race out. Penske drivers are given, as Simon puts it, the “best equipment in the Verizon IndyCar Series.”

“Team Penske is a huge, huge company,” he went on. “A great organization that has 50 years with the biggest success in Indy car history. They obviously have a lot of partners, a lot of resources, a lot of employees.”

Those partners also keep their drivers busy outside the cockpit too. He joked: “I have to be present to do a lot more appearances and I’m certainly a much busier driver than I was before. I’m almost more of a speaker now than I am a driver.”  

Pagenaud and Penske still learning

Pagenaud praised the work ethic at Team Penske, despite the team already being at the top of the tree. That constant quest for improvement is, after all, how the team reached the top.

He commented: “There’s not a day of rest; they work over Christmas. I mean it’s just incredible how much they work and how much they prepare to optimize the car.

“Whether we’re talking about the gearbox, the suspension, even the steering wheel goes into a phase of development to make the best steering wheel possible.

“I would say the car is new every time I step into it. I know that every component of the car is optimized to its maximum. And we’re still learning; that’s the crazy thing. Even with all the work that we do, we’re still learning.”  

Teammates, rivals and heroes

He’s also understanding the Penske way of working together, enjoying the debrief time with his teammates Helio Castroneves, Juan Montoya and Will Power.

“When we sign for Team Penske, we’re being told to all work together. I wish we could put a web cam inside the debriefing room [for you] to see how much fun we’re having.

“Maybe there would be a lot censored…[but] we don’t hide anything. I think it makes for a great dynamic.”

Another great dynamic for Pagenaud is his ongoing rivalry with Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The duo competed with great fervor at Barber Motorsports Park two weeks ago, echoing their Formula Atlantic battles of 10 years ago, when Pagenaud aced the championship, but Rahal scored more wins.

“We had great battles in Atlantic and Champ Car, and now in IndyCar,” said Pagenaud. “Graham is a very aggressive driver, very exciting to watch.

“I don’t really focus on these things; I try to just focus on my work. One weekend he might be strong, one weekend it might be Dixon. I just want to be that guy who is doing well every weekend. At this point I’m more focused on that than rivalry, as there’s a long way to go in this championship.”

Even as a child in Poitiers, France, Simon Pagenaud was aware of the Indianapolis 500. Although his initial interest, starting at age 4, was in Formula 1 with Ayrton Senna, he had an early interest in Indy car racing.

“I remember the Marlboro cars; I remember the Valvoline cars,” he remarked. “My favorite race was when Rick Mears and Michael Andretti went at it at the end of the race [Indy 500 in 1991]. Michael was leading the whole time and Rick was tuning his car, managed to get him at the end of the race.

“I thought that was an amazing moment and certainly one of the most incredible pieces of driving I’ve seen.”

If Simon Pagenaud is smart, he’ll spend a lot of time talking with and listening to the most recent four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, as Mears consults with Team Penske and is always there for guidance. Although he has stated that Ayrton Senna is his idol and that Senna’s the reason he’s interested in racing, the Mears attitude and manner of driving could likely get him far in this type of motorsport.

“I expected we would be strong in 2016,” said Pagenaud. “We started really, really strong. I just want to keep going now.”

After last year laying the groundwork to succeed, 2016 could be the year of Pagenaud’s ascension to the top.

 

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