SCHMIDT PETERSON TEAMMATES POST 1-2 FINISH

HOUSTON – June 30, 2014 – Simon Pagenaud and Mikhail Aleshin turned heartbreak in Race 1 of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers into celebration in Victory Circle following an exhausting 90-lap battle in Race 2.

The Schmidt Peterson Motorsports teammates finished 1-2 on the 1.634-mile, 10-turn temporary street circuit in the second of three doubleheader events this season.

Jack Hawksworth, a Verizon IndyCar Series rookie like Aleshin, leaped from qualifying last to finishing a season-high third. Charlie Kimball finished fourth and Sebastien Bourdais, who overcame a broken front wing sustained in contact on Lap 49 with the car of Helio Castroneves, recovered to finish fifth.

It was the first 1-2 finish for the Indianapolis-based team co-owned by Ric Peterson and former Indy car drivers Sam Schmidt and Davey Hamilton.

“We thought we had the class of the field (in Race 1), but it didn’t work out that way,” team manager Rob Edwards said. “This is much better.”

Pagenaud earned his first Verizon P1 Award for Race 1, but the Frenchman was relegated to a 16th-place finish after struggling on the rain-soaked track at NRG Park. Aleshin’s Race 1 ended on Lap 33 after contact with Takuma Sato in Turn 6 after starting a then-best 10th. He started on the front row for Race 2.

“Awesome race. The car was just beautiful,” said Pagenaud, who earned his second victory of the season. “That’s why I was so disappointed yesterday. We had such a fast car this weekend. We regrouped after Detroit (22nd and 6th-place finishes) and then came up with this package.”

Following the Lap 49 caution, Pagenaud found clear sailing through a Lap 63 pit stop and three more full-course cautions. Aleshin, who drove 40 laps on one set of Firestone primary tires and 18.5 gallons of E85, slid into second on the pit stop.

All four full-season rookies posted podium results this weekend (Carlos Huertas winning and Carlos Munoz placing third in Race 1). Four different teams were represented in the top five.

“I can’t really explain my feeling. I just have so much emotion,” said Aleshin, the first Verizon IndyCar Series driver from Russia. “We had a great qualifying today and had a great race. I had contact with Graham (Rahal) after his pit stop and at this moment I felt like, ‘That’s it.’ But I had a great strategy and had the same pace as the leaders. I was able to catch up and overtake some of them. Because of the strategy we were up there. And then can you imagine? In the end, I (was losing tire pressure). I was really lucky to finish, actually. The team did an amazing job. I don’t have enough English words to thank the team.”

Castroneves, the Verizon P1 Award winner, lost an opportunity to slice into Team Penske teammate Will Power’s championship points advantage in the incident with Bourdais. The No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske was overtaken for the lead in Turn 3 by Pagenaud and then made contact with Bourdais’ No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing car on the high-speed run-up to Turn 6.

“I had no idea that he was there,” said Castroneves, who tied Rick Mears for fourth all-time with 40 P1 starts. “When I’m attacking I can’t have eyes in the back of my head. I am upset because we had a great car and there were 40 laps to go and I wasn’t panicking to get the lead back.”

Castroneves led a field-high 47 laps to pick up two bonus points, but they were too few. Power, who made contact with a tire barrier on the white flag lap to fall from running third to finish 11th, takes a 39-point lead into the Pocono INDYCAR 500 fueled by Sunoco on July 7. That’s the margin he enjoyed entering the Houston doubleheader. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who finished seventh and sixth on the weekend, closed to 41 points behind. Pagenaud is 59 points back in fourth.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who was runner-up to fellow Columbian Huertas in Race 1, was overtaken by Hunter-Reay for sixth and Ryan Briscoe gained seven positions to finish eighth. Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan completed the top 10.

“It feels good to come out of this doubleheader in Houston with a top-10 finish,” said Briscoe, who secured his third consecutive top 10 and fifth of the season. “This series is just so competitive and it’s a fight to the finish at every race.”

 

 

PAGENEUD FOURTH, ALESHIN SEVENTH IN FIRESTONE 600 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Simon Pagenaud

FORT WORTH, Texas June 09, 2014 – Simon Pagenaud picked up two positions on fresh tires during the closing laps of the Firestone 600 Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway and finished fourth, his highest career Verizon IndyCar Series finish on an oval.

In only his second oval race, rookie teammate Mikhail Aleshin executed a spirited drive to finish seventh.

Pagenaud started sixth in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Dallara/Honda/Firestone car, and spent most of the 248-lap race in the top five. A late-race caution resulted in the Frenchman’s team calling him in for fresh tires, which enabled him to charge forward on the final restart with only two laps remaining.

“We had a great call from the team at the end of the race for that last restart,” Pagenaud said.

Several cars in front of Pagenaud opted to stay on track, making them easy prey for the Frenchman on the restart.

“I was a little confused when I was told to pit with two laps left, but I followed the orders, and it truly paid off,” he said. “New tires at the end of the race are what you want as a driver. That split-second choice by my team enabled us to gain two spots on the final laps, and I had a blast.”

Pagenaud was pleased with his team’s setup choice and performance on the high-banked, 1.5-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway.

Mikhail Aleshin

“SPM gave me a car that suited me very well tonight, which helped me feel comfortable the whole race,” he said. “The car was easy to drive, and our pit stops were fast. Honda did a great job, too, giving us a lot of speed in our engine.”Rookie Aleshin started 11th. After the initial fuel stint, the Russian spent the entire race running in the top 10.

“I learned so much tonight at Texas Motor Speedway,” Aleshin said. “The team did a great job giving me a fast car, and our pit stops were strong. It helped that I didn’t make too many mistakes, and we were able to get a strong result.”

Before the final restart on Lap 243, Race Control ordered all cars not on the lead lap to drive through pit lane, allowing lead lap cars to group together. Aleshin followed Race Control’s direction, but two other cars on his lap did not, advancing them past him. Following the checkered flag, race control issued 30-second penalties to all four offending cars, putting Aleshin back into seventh position.

Seventh remains Aleshin’s highest Verizon IndyCar Series finish, matching his results on the street circuits in Long Beach and Detroit (Race 2).

“I hear many experienced drivers say that as soon as you think you’re used to an oval, it will bite you,” he said. “With that in mind, I know I’m not used to this type of racing. But I’m starting to get it. There is just so much for me to learn on every corner of every lap in every race. There are a lot of unknowns for me. But when you have a good car like I did tonight, it felt great to be out there fighting for positions.”

Owner/driver Ed Carpenter won the Firestone 600. He was followed to the checkered flag by Will Power and Juan Pablo Montoya, respectively.

The Verizon IndyCar Series takes a two-week hiatus before returning to action for the Grand Prix of Houston June 28-29.  For the latest Schmidt Peterson Motorsports updates, follow @SPMIndyCar on Twitter.