simon pagenaud Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Alexander Rossi will start the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 after a rough outing during Sunday’s qualifications at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The run came as a shock since the Californian qualified 0.0342 of a second outside the Fast Nine during Saturday’s Bump Day of qualifications. The 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion’s speed of 227.454 would have put him on the fourth row of the grid had he maintained it. However, subsequent laps of 226.608 mph, 224.152 mph and 221.619 mph dropped his four lap averageRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — The final day of practice before qualifications for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 featured increased turbocharger boost pressure, wall contact and an Andretti on top of the speed chart. Marco Andretti’s No. 98 Andretti Autosport Honda turned a fastest lap of 231.802 mph around the 2.5-mile oval. Robert Wickens was second in his No. 6 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda with a lap of 231.732 mph, but both of those laps were assisted with a tow off of cars in front of themRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — In the first day of practice for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap of the day. Pagenaud’s No. 22 Menards Chevrolet went around the 2.5 mile superspeedway at an average speed of 225.787 mph in a lap that came during the morning session. “It was a very productive day,” said Pagenaud. “So, yeah, felt pretty happy. We’re obviously still learning a lot about the aerodynamics of the car. It’s quite different to what we had the past fewRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Simon Pagenaud’s yellow Menards livery is already the brightest in the Verizon IndyCar Series paddock. But after another unfortunate run-in – this time on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – the Frenchman fears he may need to resort to an even brighter hue for his No. 22 Chevrolet. “I guess my car isn’t bright enough,” Pagenaud joked after the race. “It seems like people keep running into it.” Pagenaud rolled off seventh in the INDYCAR Grand Prix, but quickly found himself mired at the back ofRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Scott Dixon did not have the best setup in his car for qualifying ahead of Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and that showed when he ended up 18th on Friday. That result required a lot of car setup changes. “Dampers, springs, geometry, closed cambers, it was pretty much everything,” said Dixon. “I think we actually threw in a kitchen sink on most of them, too. It was definitely a lot of changes. There was no session we didn’tRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Alexander Rossi had to save critical amounts of fuel late in the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course but it was a familiar experience as he brought his car home fifth. Starting eighth, Rossi managed to get to sixth on the opening lap thanks to Jordan King and Simon Pagenaud’s second turn incident. Passing James Hinchcliffe soon after the track went back to green, Rossi stayed fifth until the opening cycle of pit stops. After leading two laps, Rossi thenRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Helio Castroneves’s brief return to open wheel racing has so far been a success after the new sports car driver finished sixth in Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as teammate Will Power scored Team Penske’s 200th IndyCar win. After an early stop, Castroneves was able to advance through the field on fresher tires as others pitted. “It was just like I never left, it was a great strategy from the team,” said Castroneves. “We started on the blacks,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Friday practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series concluded in preparation for Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and Will Power is the man to beat. The No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet topped the time sheet in both sessions with a fastest lap of 1 minute, 10.0866 seconds in the first session. Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi was second in the No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda while the Ed Carpenter Racing rookie Jordan King was third in the No.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — In the first official test day ahead of the 2018 Indianapolis 500, Tony Kanaan set the fastest speed with a lap of 226.181 mph in the late afternoon. Behind the A.J. Foyt Racing driver in the second session was Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud, Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti and Harding Racing’s Gabby Chaves. In the morning test, Andretti was quickest with a lap of 223.997 mph ahead of defending Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato and 2008 Indianapolis 500 champion Scott Dixon. This was the firstRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Friday practice for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama has concluded for the Verizon IndyCar Series and there’s a lot of interesting storylines following the hour and 45 minutes of practice that the competitors were granted. First of all, the reduction of downforce with the new Universal Aero Kits is felt almost immediately with many drivers losing control of their cars heading to Turn 5. Sebastien Bourdais, Zach Veach, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Gabby Chaves among others had issues with theRead More