Simon Pagenaud was not able to claim his second Indianapolis 500 victory on Sunday, but it surely wasn’t for lack of an ability to pass.
The Frenchman logged 26 on-track passes throughout the afternoon, more than any other driver.
Not only did he start from back in the ninth row, but Pagenaud was forced into an emergency pit stop for fuel on a still-closed pit road.
The penalty for the stop meant that he restarted at the back of the pack, and had to start his climb through the field over again.
Pagenaud’s ability to make as many passes as he did was partially on account of new aerodynamic pieces that were used for the first time this year.
The new pieces were designed by IndyCar specifically to allow drivers who found themselves in dirty air to still be able to make passes.
“Yeah, absolutely,” said Pagenaud when asked if the new pieces were helpful. “I thought it was great racing.
“I could pass people. I thought it was a matter of having the right adjustment done during the pit stops. It was a matter of being aggressive also.
“I took a lot of risks today, more risks than I usually take, because it’s such an incredible race. Yeah, just came up a little short.”
On his way through the field, Pagenaud came across a many different drivers who were none too keen to let him by.
He revealed after the race that there were a few that made the passes difficult and he had to make a few attempts to get by.
But even so, there is nothing he would have done differently if he were to do it again.
“No, I would have had a problem with Montoya if I did,” said Pagenaud. “Montoya was really tough on me today. Made me lose quite a bit of time.
“I mistimed a run on Hinchcliffe, I think. Montoya got me and set me back a little bit because I couldn’t pass him afterwards. Yeah, he was playing hard to get.
“It was difficult to get through Pato [O’Ward] as well. I did on the last lap. I thought I may have had a shot in turn four [to catch the top two], but Helio was too fast.”
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