SPECIAL: Simon Pagenaud pays tribute to Gil de Ferran

The Race IndyCar Podcast

This special bonus episode features a heartfelt interview with 2016 IndyCar champion and 2019 Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud, who drove his late mentor Gil de Ferran's car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week.

Pagenaud raced for 2000-2001 CART champion de Ferran, who died in late 2023, when the former first came to America, and through the rest of his career de Ferran was a close friend and confidant Pagenaud could always lean on.

Speaking to The Race, Pagenaud discusses the origins of that relationship, and how Gil's family asked him to run demo laps of de Ferran's Penske car at The Brickyard. Pagenaud even wore de Ferran's suit and gloves from 2003 and ran a special helmet design.

We wanted to bring you the interview recorded on Thursday of race week because of Pagenaud's honest and emotional insight into de Ferran.

We won't be discussing Pagenaud's 2023 crash in this episode as we respect his right to privacy during his recovery, and wish him all the best in that continued journey.

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