IndyCar – Simon Pagenaud targets areas of improvement for 2017

To simon pagenaud, 2017 should not mark the simple defense of his 2016 crown. The Frenchman intends to continue the momentum of a 2016 campaign much better than his first season within Team Penske, where the former driver Peugeot at Le Mans had made its mark in a “dream-team” made up of Will Power, Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Poitevin absolutely does not want to rely solely on the achievements of 2016, and will seek to improve again and again. « I think it's about being disciplined, comments Pagenaud on the IndyCar Series website.

It's easy to relax after winning once, but it's about being disciplined. For me, it's about reflecting on 2016 and seeing how I can improve physically, mentally, in all aspects of driving, my skill mainly. I can definitely improve a lot of these things. »

Crowned on the other side of the Atlantic last year with five victories under his belt, Simon Pagenaud, whose car must wear the No. 1 in 2017, will look to repeat its performance this season to double the stake IndyCar, while aiming to improve its results on American ovals in particular.

The Frenchman believes that qualifying on this type of track, of which there are six on the 2017 calendar, remains a major area of ​​improvement for him and his team within Team Penske. “One of the reasons may be that we need a different approach in how we approach qualifications, explains Pagenaud.

But if you look at 2015, we qualified well, but we didn't run well on these tracks. It's about adjusting that. It's about understanding. Obviously we ran better in 2016, but we can do better. »