Tristan Vautier positive after Long Beach

Last year, the Long Beach urban circuit smiled on Tristan Vautier, who won there in the Indy Lights series and won the crown at the end of the year. Today holder in Indycar, the Rhône-Alpes experienced ups and downs last weekend in the suburbs of Los Angeles, after experiencing difficult qualifying. “ I had difficulty finding the right settings during testing, there was very little grip on the car, explains Tristan. For the qualifier, we decided to follow Simon's set-up (Pagenaud, his teammate, author of the best time in the final free practice session. Editor’s note). Unfortunately, the qualifying session did not go according to the hopes of the Sam Schmidt Motorsport team: Vautier ranked 19th, Pagenaud 17th. Worse: due to an unforeseen engine change, the Rookie was forced to start from the last row (27th).

« The start of the race was quite complex, says Tristan again. At turn 6, I had contact with Scott Dixon (which earned him a drive-through. Editor’s note) and I had to go back to my pit to change my front wing which had been damaged ". Taking advantage of the neutralizations, Tristan began a comeback which would put him in the Top 3 at mid-race. “ I was on the same strategy as the leaders in terms of tires, and we could therefore have good hopes of a podium ". Hopes which disappeared during a final refueling, carried out under Safety Car. “ The tire change was done very quickly, but unfortunately the team made me leave just as Will Power arrived. We touched each other and by the time we restarted, I found myself at the back of the pack ».

« This kind of thing happens, finally analyzed the Grenoblois. We haven't worked together long and we have some adjustments to make. Our place on arrival (17e) is of course very frustrating because we have proven since the start of the championship that we can do great things. Simon showed that the team was competitive by moving up to 8th place. We will all learn from this race together before tackling the next event. ". This will take place on May 5, again on an urban circuit, that of Sao Paulo (Brazil).