After qualifying on the front row during qualifying around the streets of St Petersburg on Saturday, Simon Pagenaud feels he and the #22 Team Penske team are in good shape, and feels the race pace should be good as well.
The Frenchman struggled with the team for large parts of 2015 after switching over from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, but feels the start of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season feels a lot more positive, and he feels ready to start the year with a good result.
“It was a good day. It was a really good day,” insisted Pagenaud, who missed out on pole position by 0.1971s to team-mate Will Power. “It’s been a good weekend so far.
“You can feel a good difference in our group, on the No. 22 side, in our second year together. It’s a lot of fun actually. The lap time shows. It’s all good at the moment.
“Qualifying was super, super intense. I had a blast out there. The car felt really good. It’s just about getting those last little bits everywhere you can. But, yeah, super happy about the performance so far.
“I think in race trim we will be in probably a little bit better shape, so I’m excited about that.”
