LEXINGTON, Ohio – About a month ago, France won the 2018 FIFA World Cup with its attacking and never-quit attitude. On Sunday in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, the two Frenchmen of the Verizon IndyCar Series – Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud – mirrored their national soccer team and used an aggressive approach to move through the field for valuable finishes inside the top 10.
Bourdais finished sixth after starting last in the 24-car field, the result of a crash during qualifying on Saturday. Pagenaud finished eighth after starting 17th. It allowed the two former Indy car champions to close the race weekend on a high note.
“Today was making up for a big mess up yesterday,” said Bourdais, who put on a passing clinic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the No. 18 Team SealMaster Honda. “It’s sad as this car could have been a winner today with our pace. It was a heck of drive and I don’t think it gets much better than that, going from 24th to sixth in a straight-up fight on a track that’s difficult to pass.
“Obviously, it was a lot of what-ifs to come to mind,” the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan driver added. “Really happy with the day but quite disappointed for the group as far as the weekend is concerned, as I think we could have been on the podium.”
After having an excursion into the tires in practice himself, Pagenaud didn’t advance past the first round of Verizon P1 Award knockout qualifying on Saturday, the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series champion started a season-worst 17th in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet.
Yet, like Bourdais, he was able to climb up the field and was happy with the race he had.
“The weekend didn’t start the way we wanted it to,” Pagenaud said. “I was still in search of right things in this package for me, but we made a lot of progress in the race today, similar to the Indy GP.
“There was no (Mid-Ohio morning) warmup, so it was difficult to guess right (on setup), but we did and the car was very good in the race. As you saw I could attack and be myself.”
Pagenaud has struggled more adapting his driving style to the 2018 Indy car with the universal aero kit. He is seventh in the point standings after 13 of 17 races, but Sunday’s result was his fifth straight top-eight finish.
“We just have to keep working in that direction,” Pagenaud said. “Just have to get our road course package up to snuff. Our qualifying effort this weekend doesn’t show what our team is, so we will keep pushing the rest of the way.”
Bourdais moved up one spot in the season standings to 10th. After collecting three top-five finishes in the first five races of 2018, including a victory in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the Mid-Ohio showing was Bourdais’ best since he placed fourth at the INDYCAR Grand Prix in early May.
The French connection for INDYCAR will look to keep the momentum going at the next Verizon IndyCar Series race, the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway on Aug. 19. Coverage begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.