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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Sonoma Rewind
Pagenaud performs again, Kanaan struggles, Hinch excels, more Race Control questions, TEAM $ changes ahead?, Danica-mania continues and more...
Simon Pagenaud and the HVM Racing team took a car that was near the bottom of the time sheets on Friday to setting the sixth-fastest lap of the race on Sunday. (Marshall Pruett)
THE GAMER
In a sport where actions carry more weight than words, Simon Pagenaud continues to send a very loud message to prospective employers, and in a season that’s overflowing with storylines, Pagenaud continues to write some of the most compelling entries.
He’s become the latest driver to earn the ‘Super Sub’ tag, but looking at the supreme talent and commitment he’s shown in three short-notice outings this year, ‘The Gamer’ might be a more accurate nickname.
Looking at Pagenaud’s willingness to be thrown into the deep end over and over again, it’s quite possible he’s a masochist, and as he showed once again—this time at Sonoma, the Frenchman isn’t afraid of sink-or-swim scenarios.
As a replacement for the injured Ana Beatriz, Pagenaud came home eighth at Barber without testing and having never driven the track. At Mid-Ohio, he went from casual onlooker to Justin Wilson’s replacement within a matter of hours when the respected Brit suffered a back injury. Pagenaud’s job was made somewhat easier due to a one-day test he’d done at the track the week before with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, but climbing straight into Wilson’s car to go qualify was an indicator of Pagenaud’s gamer spirit.
Despite being one of the fastest drivers at the Mid-Ohio test in the SSM car, Pagenaud found the Dreyer & Reinbold machine needed more work in the setup department, but still managed to qualify 18th—ahead of notables Marco Andretti and Oriol Servia.
He didn’t know the track at Barber, but learned it quickly and had all weekend to shape the handling of Bia’s car to his liking. It took until the race for the DRR car to hit its stride, but Pagenaud went on a tear and gave teams a glimpse of what he could do with a mid-pack entry.
At Mid-Ohio, Pagenaud would finish 13th after persevering through a race where he and the team simply lacked to time to get the handling to a better place. He knew that would be the case before agreeing to drive, but he accepted the challenge and gained more valuable open-wheel experience.
Pagenaud knew he’d be racing for DRR in Alabama and came to the race prepared for the challenge. The opposite was true at Mid-Ohio, but the journey lasted only a few hundred feet—from watching practice trackside to walking over to DRR’s garage to get fitted to the car.
Last week’s trek from Spain to Sonoma, however, showed a degree of hunger and desire that is rarely seen by aspiring drivers. With Simona De Silvestro turned away by customs at the Washington DC airport, the need for a skilled replacement—at least for Friday’s practice while the team attempted to sort out De Silvestro’s Visa issue—became a high priority.
Team owner Keith Wiggins could have reached out to a number of domestic drivers, but chose the Frenchman, despite the serious logistical hurdles he faced.
“I got the call at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday,” said Pagenaud of the first inquiry he received from HVM. “I didn’t have much time to think about it. At the time I wasn’t sure I was going to drive for Simona, but I had to make my way [to Sonoma] in case they needed me for Friday.”
Going through the hassle of driving three hours from the Motorland Aragon circuit--where he was testing for Peugeot—to catch a redeye flight from Barcelona to Sonoma seemed like a lot of effort for very little gain, but Pagenaud says he viewed HVM’s Friday-only opportunity in a different manner.
“I thought it would be a track I didn’t know, so it would be a good chance to learn it. I thought it would be a good opportunity to drive with another team, and to be there to show what I can do, even in tough circumstances. More experience is always best, I believe. I want to be in the series full-time, so I thought this was a good investment for me to make for next year. I made the decision to accept the drive very quickly.”
Pagenaud’s approach to the event was rather unique in that he was less concerned about immediate gains, and more focused on preparing for 2012. With discussions under way for a full-time ride with at least one serious contender, the 27-year-old has jumped into the deep end three times this year.
And he’s done it while knowing ahead of time that those drives offered little chance of challenging for a podium or a win. As a professional driver, Pagenaud was paid for his services at Barber, Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, but says financial gain was the last thing on his mind when HVM called. The opportunity to showcase his talent--even in mid-pack teams and despite its inherent disadvantages--was something he didn’t want to pass up.
“My decision wasn’t based on money, that’s for sure. My goal is to always run up front, but that isn’t always possible, so I looked at Sonoma as a chance to get more running, and to get to know the people and the series a bit better—to show myself as more of a regular member of the community. Sitting home and not trying won’t help me achieve my dreams, that is for sure, so you have to try whenever you can.”
Along with 19 other entries, HVM and De Silvestro tested at Sonoma the week prior to the race, but came away with a time that put them in the bottom half of the field. Arriving at the track with just a few hours of sleep, Pagenaud soon learned he’d be in the car for the entire weekend, but knew that based on De Silvestro’s test, he and the team would have a lot of work to do to make the HVM entry competitive.
And due to the test, INDYCAR shortened the running last weekend to a single 75-minute session on Friday and a one-hour practice Saturday morning before qualifying. The amount of setup work required would become obvious by the end of Friday when Pagenaud finished the session in 25th.
Wholesale changes were made overnight, but the car was marginally faster, setting the 24th-fastest time. In qualifying, another slight improvement was made, moving Pagenaud up to 22nd, but another round of major changes were required for Sunday’s morning warmup.
Their work paid off as Pagenaud ran 12th, giving him and the team a chance to be competitive in the race.
Despite the initial shortcomings in the handling department, Pagenaud says he was extremely impressed with the effort put forth by HVM to make the car better every session. He also thanked the team a few IndyCar drivers for getting him up to speed at the 2.2-mile, 12-turn road course.
“The nice thing is that when I showed up, the first thing I heard was Will [Power] coming over to give me some tips. I obviously spoke to Sebastien [Bourdais] because we are teammates at Peugeot, and those guys didn’t hesitate to tell me about the track, where to place the car and so on. That’s a very warm feeling. You get these guys who are welcoming and want to help you; they make you feel like you are a part of the show and that they respect you for what you do.
“TK (Tony Kanaan) even had some very nice words for me before the race, which I thought was very, very cool. HVM also had a very detailed preparation method ready for me with maps and videos and everything to prepare me for a new track. The mechanics and engineers did so many changes to the car and everybody kept pushing to improve. Altogether, it was very impressive.”
In the race, and thanks to an alternate pit strategy, Pagenaud ran as high as 11th. He fell back to 18th after his final stop, but worked his way up to 15th before being penalized for passing Power under caution (read more about that on Page 2).
Dropped to 17th after being given a drive-through penalty, Pagenaud passed Mike Conway for 16th on the final lap and was promoted to 15th after Giorgio Pantano was penalized for blocking and moved from sixth to 17th. Pagenaud also set the sixth-fastest lap of the race, further demonstrating how far the HVM car had come since Friday.
Pagenaud’s whirlwind, continent- and ocean-spanning adventure gave another glimpse of what he has to offer, but it takes a keen and interested eye to look beyond his finishing positions.
Driving for two teams that aren’t quite ready to challenge the likes of Ganassi, Penske, Andretti, Newman/Haas, KV and Panther, Pagenaud impressed mightily at Barber, and again at Mid-Ohio in a situation where matching his top 10 run in Alabama wasn’t in the cards.
At Sonoma, Pagenaud another clean race, banked a lot of valuable knowledge and helped the team to transform an uncooperative car on Friday to something that put a lot of established teams and drivers behind him by the end of the race.
In terms of job auditions, Pagenaud hasn’t had the opportunity to showcase his abilities in a top team, but looking at the three minor miracles he’s performed so far this year, it’s hard to imagine he’ll stay on the market much longer.
After returning home to his home in Indianapolis, Pagenaud said he would wait to see if HVM needed him to drive for De Silvestro at Baltimore, but Keith Wiggins told SPEED.com on Tuesday that all signs point to De Silvestro returning the USA to race this weekend.
“Fingers crossed,” he said. “We expect to have Simona back this weekend. Simon did a great job for us last weekend, and if the rumors are true, it sounds like he’ll be in a seat next year. I’d rather have him driving for us than against us, I’ll tell you that.”
JOCKEYING FOR THE TEAM TRANSFER SPOT
INDYCAR’s change to its TEAM (Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix) Program for 2011 reduced its payout of approximately $1.2 million to the top 22 entrants from the 2010 season, which caused a major panic for the smaller outfits (outside the top 22) that were counting on the financial boost.
With the season almost over and a three full-time entries outside the top 22 transfer spots (KV Racing’s No. 59 entry, Conquest Racing’s No. 34 and Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 18), an even greater panic could have set-in with the expense of new cars on the horizon.
But as one team principal told SPEED.com, it looks like the latest draft that made the rounds at Sonoma could see INDYCAR eliminate the top 22 threshold for TEAM payouts next year.
“I’d like to see [INDYCAR] finalize the current plans for next year…that would help. But as I read it now, the entrant points have no bearing on the [TEAM] program for next year. That’s supposedly being done away with and they have a new system they are working on for 2012. Then they will go back to a points-based system for 2013. There may be movements to change that, but I haven’t heard of them through today.”
In a sport where actions carry more weight than words, Simon Pagenaud continues to send a very loud message to prospective employers, and in a season that’s overflowing with storylines, Pagenaud continues to write some of the most compelling entries.
He’s become the latest driver to earn the ‘Super Sub’ tag, but looking at the supreme talent and commitment he’s shown in three short-notice outings this year, ‘The Gamer’ might be a more accurate nickname.
Looking at Pagenaud’s willingness to be thrown into the deep end over and over again, it’s quite possible he’s a masochist, and as he showed once again—this time at Sonoma, the Frenchman isn’t afraid of sink-or-swim scenarios.
As a replacement for the injured Ana Beatriz, Pagenaud came home eighth at Barber without testing and having never driven the track. At Mid-Ohio, he went from casual onlooker to Justin Wilson’s replacement within a matter of hours when the respected Brit suffered a back injury. Pagenaud’s job was made somewhat easier due to a one-day test he’d done at the track the week before with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, but climbing straight into Wilson’s car to go qualify was an indicator of Pagenaud’s gamer spirit.
Despite being one of the fastest drivers at the Mid-Ohio test in the SSM car, Pagenaud found the Dreyer & Reinbold machine needed more work in the setup department, but still managed to qualify 18th—ahead of notables Marco Andretti and Oriol Servia.
He didn’t know the track at Barber, but learned it quickly and had all weekend to shape the handling of Bia’s car to his liking. It took until the race for the DRR car to hit its stride, but Pagenaud went on a tear and gave teams a glimpse of what he could do with a mid-pack entry.
At Mid-Ohio, Pagenaud would finish 13th after persevering through a race where he and the team simply lacked to time to get the handling to a better place. He knew that would be the case before agreeing to drive, but he accepted the challenge and gained more valuable open-wheel experience.
Pagenaud knew he’d be racing for DRR in Alabama and came to the race prepared for the challenge. The opposite was true at Mid-Ohio, but the journey lasted only a few hundred feet—from watching practice trackside to walking over to DRR’s garage to get fitted to the car.
Last week’s trek from Spain to Sonoma, however, showed a degree of hunger and desire that is rarely seen by aspiring drivers. With Simona De Silvestro turned away by customs at the Washington DC airport, the need for a skilled replacement—at least for Friday’s practice while the team attempted to sort out De Silvestro’s Visa issue—became a high priority.
Team owner Keith Wiggins could have reached out to a number of domestic drivers, but chose the Frenchman, despite the serious logistical hurdles he faced.
“I got the call at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday,” said Pagenaud of the first inquiry he received from HVM. “I didn’t have much time to think about it. At the time I wasn’t sure I was going to drive for Simona, but I had to make my way [to Sonoma] in case they needed me for Friday.”
Going through the hassle of driving three hours from the Motorland Aragon circuit--where he was testing for Peugeot—to catch a redeye flight from Barcelona to Sonoma seemed like a lot of effort for very little gain, but Pagenaud says he viewed HVM’s Friday-only opportunity in a different manner.
“I thought it would be a track I didn’t know, so it would be a good chance to learn it. I thought it would be a good opportunity to drive with another team, and to be there to show what I can do, even in tough circumstances. More experience is always best, I believe. I want to be in the series full-time, so I thought this was a good investment for me to make for next year. I made the decision to accept the drive very quickly.”
Pagenaud’s approach to the event was rather unique in that he was less concerned about immediate gains, and more focused on preparing for 2012. With discussions under way for a full-time ride with at least one serious contender, the 27-year-old has jumped into the deep end three times this year.
And he’s done it while knowing ahead of time that those drives offered little chance of challenging for a podium or a win. As a professional driver, Pagenaud was paid for his services at Barber, Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, but says financial gain was the last thing on his mind when HVM called. The opportunity to showcase his talent--even in mid-pack teams and despite its inherent disadvantages--was something he didn’t want to pass up.
“My decision wasn’t based on money, that’s for sure. My goal is to always run up front, but that isn’t always possible, so I looked at Sonoma as a chance to get more running, and to get to know the people and the series a bit better—to show myself as more of a regular member of the community. Sitting home and not trying won’t help me achieve my dreams, that is for sure, so you have to try whenever you can.”
Along with 19 other entries, HVM and De Silvestro tested at Sonoma the week prior to the race, but came away with a time that put them in the bottom half of the field. Arriving at the track with just a few hours of sleep, Pagenaud soon learned he’d be in the car for the entire weekend, but knew that based on De Silvestro’s test, he and the team would have a lot of work to do to make the HVM entry competitive.
And due to the test, INDYCAR shortened the running last weekend to a single 75-minute session on Friday and a one-hour practice Saturday morning before qualifying. The amount of setup work required would become obvious by the end of Friday when Pagenaud finished the session in 25th.
Wholesale changes were made overnight, but the car was marginally faster, setting the 24th-fastest time. In qualifying, another slight improvement was made, moving Pagenaud up to 22nd, but another round of major changes were required for Sunday’s morning warmup.
Their work paid off as Pagenaud ran 12th, giving him and the team a chance to be competitive in the race.
Despite the initial shortcomings in the handling department, Pagenaud says he was extremely impressed with the effort put forth by HVM to make the car better every session. He also thanked the team a few IndyCar drivers for getting him up to speed at the 2.2-mile, 12-turn road course.
“The nice thing is that when I showed up, the first thing I heard was Will [Power] coming over to give me some tips. I obviously spoke to Sebastien [Bourdais] because we are teammates at Peugeot, and those guys didn’t hesitate to tell me about the track, where to place the car and so on. That’s a very warm feeling. You get these guys who are welcoming and want to help you; they make you feel like you are a part of the show and that they respect you for what you do.
“TK (Tony Kanaan) even had some very nice words for me before the race, which I thought was very, very cool. HVM also had a very detailed preparation method ready for me with maps and videos and everything to prepare me for a new track. The mechanics and engineers did so many changes to the car and everybody kept pushing to improve. Altogether, it was very impressive.”
In the race, and thanks to an alternate pit strategy, Pagenaud ran as high as 11th. He fell back to 18th after his final stop, but worked his way up to 15th before being penalized for passing Power under caution (read more about that on Page 2).
Dropped to 17th after being given a drive-through penalty, Pagenaud passed Mike Conway for 16th on the final lap and was promoted to 15th after Giorgio Pantano was penalized for blocking and moved from sixth to 17th. Pagenaud also set the sixth-fastest lap of the race, further demonstrating how far the HVM car had come since Friday.
Pagenaud’s whirlwind, continent- and ocean-spanning adventure gave another glimpse of what he has to offer, but it takes a keen and interested eye to look beyond his finishing positions.
Driving for two teams that aren’t quite ready to challenge the likes of Ganassi, Penske, Andretti, Newman/Haas, KV and Panther, Pagenaud impressed mightily at Barber, and again at Mid-Ohio in a situation where matching his top 10 run in Alabama wasn’t in the cards.
At Sonoma, Pagenaud another clean race, banked a lot of valuable knowledge and helped the team to transform an uncooperative car on Friday to something that put a lot of established teams and drivers behind him by the end of the race.
In terms of job auditions, Pagenaud hasn’t had the opportunity to showcase his abilities in a top team, but looking at the three minor miracles he’s performed so far this year, it’s hard to imagine he’ll stay on the market much longer.
After returning home to his home in Indianapolis, Pagenaud said he would wait to see if HVM needed him to drive for De Silvestro at Baltimore, but Keith Wiggins told SPEED.com on Tuesday that all signs point to De Silvestro returning the USA to race this weekend.
“Fingers crossed,” he said. “We expect to have Simona back this weekend. Simon did a great job for us last weekend, and if the rumors are true, it sounds like he’ll be in a seat next year. I’d rather have him driving for us than against us, I’ll tell you that.”
JOCKEYING FOR THE TEAM TRANSFER SPOT
INDYCAR’s change to its TEAM (Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix) Program for 2011 reduced its payout of approximately $1.2 million to the top 22 entrants from the 2010 season, which caused a major panic for the smaller outfits (outside the top 22) that were counting on the financial boost.
With the season almost over and a three full-time entries outside the top 22 transfer spots (KV Racing’s No. 59 entry, Conquest Racing’s No. 34 and Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 18), an even greater panic could have set-in with the expense of new cars on the horizon.
But as one team principal told SPEED.com, it looks like the latest draft that made the rounds at Sonoma could see INDYCAR eliminate the top 22 threshold for TEAM payouts next year.
“I’d like to see [INDYCAR] finalize the current plans for next year…that would help. But as I read it now, the entrant points have no bearing on the [TEAM] program for next year. That’s supposedly being done away with and they have a new system they are working on for 2012. Then they will go back to a points-based system for 2013. There may be movements to change that, but I haven’t heard of them through today.”
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