SEBRING, Fla. -- Simon Pagenaud checked his watch and excused himself 17 minutes into an interview early on media day in St. Petersburg, Fla. He had to run.

The Schmidt/Hamilton Motorsports driver was bound for the airport to catch a flight to France, where he’ll compete this weekend in the Rallye De La Vienna near his hometown of Poitiers, France. It’s a special race.

“I’ve been passionate about rally since I was a kid,” said Pagenaud, two tested the No. 77 Honda-powered car May 5-6 on the 1.67-mile Sebring International Raceway short course. “I started racing on the circuit, and rally was really what I was looking for.”

Opportunities in sports cars and Indy car racing intervened, however, and this weekend he’ll be driving a car that won the Monte Carlo rally in the 20th anniversary of the Rallye De La Vienna.

“Should be good enough to be on the podium.”

On March 13, he’ll fly back to Florida to compete in the 60th anniversary Sebring 12 Hours on March 18-19. The IZOD IndyCar Series season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is the next week.

View the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg schedule

“I’m going to be in race car basically all the way up to St. Pete, and for me, that’s actually good,” Pagenaud said. “The more you do it, the more natural it is. When I get to St. Pete, I’m going to be warmed up compared to the others guys. I think it’s a big advantage, especially being in different race cars.“

If you only drive one kind of car, you know the car is going to brake here and accelerate there. But that’s exactly what I’m not trying to do. I’m trying to adapt to a situation. If I think the car should brake later, it should brake later and I’ll set it up for that. So being able to go from one car to another really opens up my mind that way.”

Pagenaud joined Gil de Ferran’s team in the American Le Mans Series “and that’s how I started my relationship with Honda.” “I’ve driven all their sports cars and I have a lot of different experience and I think it’s made me stronger on every technical aspect. This year with the new car it’s an advantage.” An eighth-place showing at Barber Motorsports Park last April in a fill-in role for the injured Ana Beatriz opened the door for what would evolve into this season’s association with the Schmidt/Hamilton group.

“That chance I had at Barber I had to show up and be ready,” Pagenaud said of his series debut. “Sam (Schmidt) called me the next week.”