French driver Simon Pagenaud showed again just how good he is by taking second place at the Long Beach Grand Prix IndyCar race. He's been racing for a while now, in the States and around the world.
The Frenchman's career started out in 2001, with a drive in the Formula Campus series. Soon he moved to Formula Renault 2.0 – for a string of runner up titles: twice in the national championship in 2002 and 2003, than once in the Eurocup in 2004.
In 2005, he graduated to Formula Renault 3.5, a year before he moved to the States.
In 2006, as a 22-year-old, the Poitiers-native took top honours in the Formula Altantic series, driving for Team Australia. It allowed him to move up in 2007 to the affiliated Champ Car World Series, in which he finished seventh in his rookie season.
In 2008, the merger between Champ Car and IndyCar forced him to rethink his career path. Still in the States, he took a drive in the American Le Mans Series to race the Acura-powered ARX-01b LMP2 prototype of De Ferran Motorsports alongside his boss Gil de Ferran.
In 2009, the two stepped up to the LMP1 class, winning five races on their way to second place in the championship. It must have caught the eyes of Acura's head of states, because Pagenaud was signed by the brand's official Highcroft Racing team ahead of the 2010 season – in which he took the P1 title with David Brabham.
The 2009 season also saw Pagenaud commit to racing in Europe with Peugeot. At the wheel of the turbo diesel 908, he won rounds in the Le Mans Series, at Spa in 2009, and at Silverstone in 2011. Four participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans yielded second place as a best result, in 2011.
That same year, on top of racing for Highcroft on and off, Pagenaud went back to open-wheel, in the IndyCar series, taking part in the Barber, Mid Ohio and Sonoma rounds.
Encouraging performances at those venues convinced Sam Schmidt Motorsports to give Pagenaud a full-time drive in 2012, at the wheel of their Dallara DW12-Honda.
So far this year, he's taken sixth place at the season-opener in St. Petersburg, a fifth at Barber and a podium in the streets of Long Beach. Although Pagenaud missed out on the win, by hair, his spectacular drive through the field was a highlight of the race.
Strong showings have Pagenaud third in the standings, but whether he can run with the top guys on ovals, which will be crucial if he is to challenge for the overall title, remains to see.
The Frenchman's career started out in 2001, with a drive in the Formula Campus series. Soon he moved to Formula Renault 2.0 – for a string of runner up titles: twice in the national championship in 2002 and 2003, than once in the Eurocup in 2004.
In 2005, he graduated to Formula Renault 3.5, a year before he moved to the States.
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| Simon Pagenaud during his Formula Atlantic days. (Photo: WRI2) |
In 2006, as a 22-year-old, the Poitiers-native took top honours in the Formula Altantic series, driving for Team Australia. It allowed him to move up in 2007 to the affiliated Champ Car World Series, in which he finished seventh in his rookie season.
In 2008, the merger between Champ Car and IndyCar forced him to rethink his career path. Still in the States, he took a drive in the American Le Mans Series to race the Acura-powered ARX-01b LMP2 prototype of De Ferran Motorsports alongside his boss Gil de Ferran.
 |
| Winning the ALMS title with Honda. (Photo: WRI2) |
In 2009, the two stepped up to the LMP1 class, winning five races on their way to second place in the championship. It must have caught the eyes of Acura's head of states, because Pagenaud was signed by the brand's official Highcroft Racing team ahead of the 2010 season – in which he took the P1 title with David Brabham.
The 2009 season also saw Pagenaud commit to racing in Europe with Peugeot. At the wheel of the turbo diesel 908, he won rounds in the Le Mans Series, at Spa in 2009, and at Silverstone in 2011. Four participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans yielded second place as a best result, in 2011.
That same year, on top of racing for Highcroft on and off, Pagenaud went back to open-wheel, in the IndyCar series, taking part in the Barber, Mid Ohio and Sonoma rounds.
 |
| At the end of 2011, Pagenaud replaced Simona de Silvestro. (Photo: WRI2) |
Encouraging performances at those venues convinced Sam Schmidt Motorsports to give Pagenaud a full-time drive in 2012, at the wheel of their Dallara DW12-Honda.
So far this year, he's taken sixth place at the season-opener in St. Petersburg, a fifth at Barber and a podium in the streets of Long Beach. Although Pagenaud missed out on the win, by hair, his spectacular drive through the field was a highlight of the race.
Strong showings have Pagenaud third in the standings, but whether he can run with the top guys on ovals, which will be crucial if he is to challenge for the overall title, remains to see.