Pagenaud ruled out for rest of IndyCar season

Simon Pagenaud will not race an IndyCar again this season due to “lingering post-concussion symptoms.”

The Meyer Shank Racing driver has not competed since a practice crash on July 1, when a brake problem for his #60 Honda saw him violently roll through the Turn 4 gravel trap at Mid-Ohio.

Pagenaud’s period sidelined from competitive IndyCar action is set to last eight to nine months given he will not race in the category again before the 2024 season-opener.

For the final two races of the current campaign, this weekend in Portland and the next at Laguna Seca, future team-mate Tom Blomqvist will fill the breach.

“I have been working with an excellent team of doctors, and I have made progress,” explained the Frenchman, via a social media post.

“The doctor’s advice is for me to take more time to continue my way back to 100 percent, so I will not be racing the final two races of the 2023 season.

“The accident left me with lingering post-concussion symptoms.

“I am working hard to get back to 100 percent, but this type of recovery is unique in time to each individual.

“I wish I could be out there doing what I love and driving my race car, but the accident was very violent and left me to focus on the task at hand: my health and recovery.”

Blomqvist will replace Helio Castroneves next year, in a shift from MSR’s IMSA programme to its IndyCar effort.

He was caught up in a first-lap crash in his only IndyCar start so far, when he filled in for Pagenaud at Toronto.

Castroneves is set to contest next year’s Indianapolis 500 in a third entry out of MSR, of which he is also becoming a minority shareholder.