Simon Pagenaud Signs With IndyCar's Sam Schmidt Motorsports

By Anne Proffit

Anne Proffit

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Anne Proffit has worked in the automotive field since - well, not telling you that. She's been a car salesperson (before it was popular to hire... More

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1,121 views Dec 8, 2011

Simon Pagenaud - Anne Proffit photo

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Sam Schmidt Motorsports hired Simon Pagenaud to drive its Dallara/Honda/Firestone IZOD IndyCar Series entry in the upcoming 2012 season.  Announced at the IMIS trade show in Indianapolis by Sam Schmidt, team manager Rob Edwards and Pagenaud, the group also named Ben Bretzman as lead engineer.

Pagenaud and Edwards have great history together, having won the 2006 Atlantic championship at Walker Racing.  Pagenaud's most recent title came with Highcroft Racing in American Le Mans Series (ALMS) competition in the LM P1 category; lead engineer on that project was Bretzman.

"We've been working on this all year," said Pagenaud, who had the unenviable job of being a substitute driver on several teams during the 2011 campaign.  "I'm delighted to be joining the IZOD IndyCar Series full-time with Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Honda," Pagenaud, 27, said.  "I am really looking forward to the challenge of racing in a single-seater again.  It is the best situation I could hope for, and I've been waiting for this opportunity for many years now.

"I'd like to thank Roger Griffiths of Honda Performance Development for mentoring my career," Pagenaud said.  "It's great to be back with Rob Edwards and Ben Bretzman."

Like most young French drivers, Pagenaud started his driving career in karts, moving steadily through the European formula car ladder.  His career ignited when he moved to Indianapolis.  "America has been a lucky charm to me.  The start of it was 2006 when I won the Champ Car Atlantic Championship with Walker Racing, which allowed me to enter the Champ Car World Series in 2007."

During that final year of Champ Car competition, Pagenaud - like the balance of the drivers - helped to develop the Panoz DP01 from a monster to drive to a "wonderful race car," he said.  The work on Dallara's DW12 will be similar for him.  Pagenaud has already driven the development car on a road course and said, while development is in the very early stages, "The new car is decent early on.  Development has been pushed very far."

Following the demise of Champ Car, Pagenaud teamed with car owner Gil de Ferran in 2008 and 2009 in ALMS LM P1 competition, moving to Highcroft and partnering with David Brabham for the 2010 championship.  He also drove for the factory Peugeot Sport Total LM P1 team at Le Mans.

Schmidt earned the IMIS 2011 Achievement Award on Wednesday night and acknowledged that, in 2011, his team has had a "tremendous amount of success, winning the pole at the Indianapolis 500 (in its centennial year) and leading a number of races.  We've had challenges, as well, with the loss of [Indy Lights] team leader Chris Griffis.

"2012 offers extreme opportunities.  I'd like to note," he joked, "that we have the highest average of crew members in the paddock," and lauded the chemistry of his longstanding team.  "Simon," he noted, "is extremely well qualified for this program and we've been working on building this team for a good nine months."

Schmidt said he had options for further years' participation with Pagenaud.  The sponsorship details and car number will be revealed at a later date.

© 2011 Anne Proffit