Pagenaud blisters to third straight IndyCar win

Simon Pagenaud has recorded a IndyCar hat-trick of wins after a clinical victory in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

The win came after Pagenaud had topped the previous two Verizon IndyCar Series races at Barber Motorsports Park and Long Beach.

Pagenaud led home Team Penske partner Helio Castroneves who had cycled through the field after starting 13th.

After only relinquishing the lead in pit stop exchanges the French driver dominated the 82-lap affair.

A cracking drive from James Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) saw the Canadian claim third ahead of Charlie Kimball (Chip Ganassi) and Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Graham Rahal.

Rookie Matt Brabham produced a highly promising debut for the Pirtek Team Murray crew to finish 16th.

Sporting the Day-Glo Menards livery in the #22 Chevrolet, Pagenaud has now extended his series lead to 76 points over Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi) who finished seventh behind one-time race leader Conor Daly (Dale Coyne Racing).

“Obviously Team Penske is the best in the business. Three in a row is incredible and especially in IndyCar with this kind of domination,” Pagenaud said.

Pagenaud’s 4.4s victory saw him claim his second win on the IndyCar road course after his success two years ago.

At the start Tony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi) was trying to avoid team-mate Dixon going into turn 1 when he pushed Sebastian Bourdais (KVSH) into the wall on the outside of Turn 1, triggering a yellow seconds after the start.

Bourdais came into the pits for repairs with his crew assessing damage to the front left before repairs were made to allow him back into the fight mid-race.

However he stalled, coming to rest in a run-off area bringing out the second caution.

It triggered a stream of activity in pit lane led by Pagenaud who switched to another set of red tyres.

Meanwhile Hinchcliffe’s Schmidt Peterson crew serviced the Canadian brilliantly as he merged back into the fray ahead of Pagenaud.

Castroneves paced the field on the restart from Daly, Hinchcliffe and Pagenaud on lap 46.

Daly quickly swept into the lead from Castroneves while Pagenaud moved into third in a slick move.

Meanwhile Dixon came in for a final pit on lap 60 for tyres and a front wing adjustment, followed a lap later by leader Daly.

Pagenaud managed to cycle through into the lead after the final round of pit stops ahead of Castroneves before quickly spread-eagling the field for the final run to the flag.

Team Penske’s Will Power had an indifferent race which started with an early spin after coming under pressure from Alex Rossi.

Ill-timed pit stops and a pitlane penalty saw Power finish 19th.

Penske’s Juan Montoya finished eighth ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay with Rossi impressing in 10th.

See below for full results

Points standings