Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin/OnPitRoad.com
Team Penske announced on Monday Sept. 29 that Simon Pagenaud will join the team as a teammate to Will Power, Helio Castronenves and Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015.
The four-time race winner signed a multi-year contract with Team Penske after finishing in the top-five in points the past two seasons. The France native scored two victories, one pole, three podium finishes and eight top-fives finishes in 2014.
“It’s a very special day in my career,” Pagenaud commented. “This is a stepping stone in what happened for me in this life. It’s an honor to be part of Team Penske, a team that I’ve always dreamed to drive for, so a very special day.
“It’s definitely the next step in my career. I’ve been working my whole life as a race car driver, and now was perfect timing for Team Penske to come and work together. I’m really excited to get to work with Helio (Castroneves), Will (Power), and Juan Montoya. So having three teammates like them is definitely a huge help as a driver to complete the steps and it’s going to help the team as well. I’m really excited. I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for my career.”
Pagenaud says that he made the move to Team Penske as he saw how they worked their team and felt that he’d fit their mold well.
“I don’t think any driver would turn down any opportunities from Roger Penske, so it was because of my interest in this team, it was the decision I made,” he added. “I have to thank Honda for the past and for everything that they helped me to do. But, like I said, I just admired this team so much, this is my decision.”
Pagenaud also has a championship past, scoring the Champ Car Atlantic Series open-wheel title as a rookie in 2006 before producing four wins en route to the American Le Mans Series sports car LMP1 crown in 2010. Pagenaud will look to join Team Penske’s Championship ring that saw Power win the title this past season with Castroneves second.
“Its the first time we’ve run four cars with Team Penske, so it will certainly be a challenge,” Team Penske President Tim Cindric admitted. “But when you have someone like Simon who may seem as though maybe this has been something that we’ve looked at here in the short?term, that’s not necessarily the case.
“Simon had obviously had an association with (former Team Penske driver) Gil (de Ferran) back in the Sports Car days when we were running the ALMS program, and that’s where we took notice of what his capabilities were. You know, really this has been the opportunity that we’ve had to bring him on board.
“If that meant changing to a four-car program, that’s what we were prepared to do. We feel like any time you can expand an organization, certainly it’s satisfying to know that we can continue to add to the Team Penske heritage, and bringing Simon on board was certainly an added plus to that. So, certainly looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
When the announcement was made, one of the challenges that could be seen moving forward for a lot of people is that Pagenaud crossed paths with Power this past season, with the pair having contact on track. Pagenaud says that they’ve both gotten over that as that come with them both being mature drivers.
“We’ve known each other for a long time and been good teammates,” Pagenaud added. “I enjoyed very much working together at the time. I think it’s going to be our job to make it work for the team at Team Penske. It’s a great opportunity, certainly for me, but for all of us here. I don’t see any problem. I don’t see any reason why it won’t work well. Actually, it is going to work well.”
