Pagenaud to start 12th, Castroneves 16th

 

Indianapolis, Ind. (29 August 2022) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) drivers Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves will line up 12th and 16th respectively for Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (12:00pm ET, NBC, SiriusXM Ch. 160).

A fast first day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw just one 90-minute practice session ahead of the early afternoon qualifying. MSR’s had a strong qualifying record at the IMS road course qualifying in the top three, three times which included a front row start in 2020.

Finishing 9th and 16th in Friday morning practice, the MSR crew got to work with just under two hours before heading back out for qualifying.

Pagenaud led MSR in Group 1 in the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda which saw the three time Indy road course winner advance to the Fast 12 for the sixth time this season. Once up to speed in Top 12 qualifying, the No. 60 crew opted to give Pagenaud one lap to lay down a flyer – resulting in a 1:10.762-second lap which placed him 12th for Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix.

A part of qualifying Group 2, Castroneves’ run was quickly halted with a red flag in the early moments of the session. The No. 06 crew regrouped with a shortened session and Castroneves ultimately posted a 1:10.756-second lap, putting him 16th for the main event.

Saturday’s 85 lap Gallagher Grand Prix is set to take the green flag at 12:30pm ET, and will be televised live on NBC. SiriusXM will also host live IndyCar Radio coverage on XM Ch. 160.

Quotes:

Simon Pagenaud: 

“We had a decent day here at the Indy Grand Prix for the second time this year. We’re starting 12th, and we felt a lot of pace through qualifying. I’m pretty happy with the performance compared to where we were in practice. We’re making good progress on the road course, but it is so tight. From first to sixth, it was a tenth and half of a second, so we’ll keep improving. Tomorrow in the race, I hope we can do something special.”

Helio Castroneves:

“It was definitely a tough session for us and that red flag did not help. The car was very loose out there and I was doing what I could to put down a good lap. I think we have the potential to have a strong race so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”