Rahal’s speed boosts Pigot’s hopes for GP Indy

As reigning Indy Lights champion, Pigot will make the second of his three guaranteed IndyCar entries next week at the Grand Prix of Indy, held on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 13-turn 2.439-mile road course.

The 22-year-old from Pasadena, Calif., will be driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda, for whom Graham Rahal took second in last year’s Grand Prix of Indy, and was also runner-up in last month’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park.

Pigot told Motorsport.com: “I think coming into the weekend everyone’s excited. We’re all encouraged by Graham’s performance at GP Indy last year and also the most recent race at Barber. I mean, that was really good, wasn’t it? It’s clear that the team’s working really well together, and really enjoying working with each other.

“If we come off the trailer with a good setup – and based on last year at GP Indy, that should happen – then I think I can hopefully challenge the mid-pack in qualifying and then… who knows? Break into the top 10 in the race, maybe. That would be the goal for me.”

Pigot said that although his series debut at St. Petersburg in March was a head-rush, he now realizes he acquired invaluable knowledge.

He said: “That weekend really flew by at the time, but looking back, I can see I learned a lot. The way you have to manage the practice sessions, the gaining experience on red [soft] tires, the pit stops, the strategy, the physical effort it takes to do a race weekend ….

“I already know so much more than I did going into St. Pete. There are a lot fewer question marks. So I think we’ll be able to pick up where we left off, keep getting used to things, and things will go much smoother.”

Constant learning

Pigot has become the poster-child of the Mazda Road to Indy, earning second in both his seasons in USF2000, winning the Pro Mazda title at his second attempt, and then winning the Indy Lights championship in his first season in the category.

Nonetheless, he admitted the depth of talent within the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series had still made his inaugural race weekend a difficult one.

“I remember I had a lap going during qualifying that was maybe a couple of tenths up on my previous best,” he recalled. “Then I just made a little, little mistake, clipped a curb, lost a few tenths, and wasn’t able to get that lap in.

“That lap wouldn't have been quite enough to get me into Q2… but it would have put me a few rows – not just a few places – further up the grid. That’s how tight it is. Everyone’s close, everyone’s good, and the teams are all so good that you can’t afford to make any of those little mistakes even on one corner.

“That’s exciting for the driver because you know that if you can really put a lap together, you’ll be rewarded. But the stakes are high; if you make a single mistake you don’t deserve to be higher up the grid.

“That’s good – that’s the way it should be. It rewards the guys who really get it done right – fast but no errors.”

Pigot rose from 21^st on the grid to be classified 14^th, and although that doesn’t sound a startling result, his increasing confidence was apparent from trackside as he pulled off passing maneuvers into Turn 1.

“Yeah, I was learning even then,” said Pigot. “Plus we made a big improvement on the car for raceday so we were able to challenge the guys ahead.

“The thing I wasn’t used to was how much the track changes throughout the race. The rubber goes down so quick from everyone being out there at the same time. Each lap there’s more rubber to use so your braking distances can get that bit shorter, your rolling speeds can get higher.

“You have to get used to it and you’ve got to trust your car can do it, because you know all the guys around you who’ve been doing this for a few years will be doing that kind of thing automatically because it’s what they expect.

“So now I’m expecting that now, too. For GP Indy, I can read the track and read the conditions a little bit better than I could have done before my first race experience.”

The big one can’t be ignored

Although Pigot said the GP of Indianapolis will be a priority next week, he admitted the Indianapolis 500 – his third start – has been hard to push from his mind.

He said: “As hard as you try, you cannot take your mind off the ‘500’. The 100^th running and my first shot at it… No matter what, I am thinking about getting out on the oval and wondering what that will be like.

“But that’s just for now. Once we get into race weekend mindset for the Grand Prix, we’ll be so focused on that, the 500 can take a back seat in my mind until the morning after.

“With the Grand Prix on the Saturday, the teams get a day of preparation on the Sunday for the oval – no track activity – and then the rookies get from 12 until 2pm on the Monday before everyone comes out for practice.”

Pigot said that he was not in a position to speculate on what he would classify as a satisfying finish in his first Indy 500, because he literally did not know what to expect.

“I think it’s too early to set that kind of target because right now," he admitted. "I’d say just finishing the race would be great.

“But then as we go further into practice week and we get more miles under our belt, I’m thinking that with a strong team and a strong car, I’m going to get more confident and maybe my ambitions will rise. 

“It’s Indy and there’s only one position that matters, but I’m looking forward to just experiencing the race and finishing as high up as we can get.”