Simon Says—A Lap Around Mid-Ohio with the Track Record Holder
In Feature Articles“I have the all-time track record at Mid-Ohio—I think it was a 1:03:7.” It was at this point of my conversation with IndyCar, sportscar, Aussie V8 and rally driver extraordinaire, Simon Pagenaud, that I fell off my chair.
The 27-year-old Indianapolis-based Frenchman loves to go fast and in the last 12 months he has taken every available opportunity to prove it. Pagenaud has driven for the factory Peugeot squad in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, he’s been ‘super sub’ in the IndyCar Series, he’s been a factory Honda driver in the Continental Tire Series for touring cars and he’s even found time to rally a Citroen C2!
That blistering lap time at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was set in a 2007 Champ Car (above) described simply by Pagenaud as “fantastic” with a “combination of power and grip that made that track layout really fun.”
