CHAMPCAR/CART: Road America: Simon Pagenaud race report

Simon expected a good result on the track of Road America where he secured the Champ Car Atlantic title last season. A bad understanding of the quality of the new Bridgestone tyres dashed the hopes however. Ranking sixth on the grid, the Frenchman did a good start and was about to chase the leaders when Paul Tracy pushed Ryan Dalziel on Simon's car in the first lap.

Unscathed but forced to change his front wing, Simon stalled twice his V8 Cosworth, what cost him some precious seconds. Despite his top speed on track, he couldn't do better than 11th.

The next rendezvous will be Zolder in Belgium the 24th, 25th and 26th August before Assen in the Netherlands the 1st, 2nd and 3rd September. Some tracks Simon knows perfectly as he raced there in the different Formula Renault championships !

Simon Pagenaud:

"Nothing happened as expected. We used a set of tyres in the first qualifying session which didn't work properly. We had a lot of doubts indeed and in the second session, we thought that the "red" tyres, with a softer compound, would be more faster, but it wasn't the case. As I didn't improve my best lap, I end up in 12th position on the grid. It's crystal clear we missed the point ! We should have noticed the "black" and normal tyres were more efficient. After the start of the race, I take the inside line of the curve 5, but Paul Tracy tries to overtake his competitors using the outer line and touches Ryan Dalziel who collides with my rear wheel. As my car shortly takes off, I hopefully realized everything was still working properly. Pitting in, my engine stalls twice what definitely determines my result and my 11th place, despite of all my efforts. I'm looking forward to race in Europe and score the best possible results ahead of my fans."

-credit: eg/sp