Courtesy Simon Pagenaud Racing – Chris Bucher

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

One Indianapolis 500 champion will pay tribute to another on Sunday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Simon Pagenaud will turn an emotional lap in honor of the late Gil de Ferran.

De Ferran’s wife, Angela, recruited longtime family friend Pagenaud to drive the No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Panoz G Force/Toyota that Gil wheeled to victory for Team Penske in the 2003 Indy 500.

The parade lap _ a prelude to the 108^th running of the Indianapolis 500 _ will start from Turn 1 of the IMS Road-Course at 10.40 a.m. (EDT) as part of the IMS Museum 500 Historic Car Lap. Live coverage of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” will start at 11 a.m. on NBC, Universo, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Ironically, de Ferran’s victory in ‘03 came at the expense of teammate and fellow-Brazilian Helio Castroneves, who had posted back-to-back victories in 2001 and 2002. De Ferran, who started the 2003 race in 10^th, edged pole-sitter Castroneves by 0.2990-seconds at the checkered flag. De Ferran was the last of 14 drivers to lead the race, taking the point from eventual Rookie of the Year Tora Takagi on Lap 170 of the traditional 200 en route to Victory Lane.

De Ferran died on Dec. 29, 2023, after suffering a heart attack while competing at a private racing event with his son, Luke, at The Concours Club in Opa-locka, Fla. De Ferran was 56-years-old.

De Ferran and Pagenaud were close friends for almost two decades, with Gil mentoring the young Frenchman when he first came to the United States. “I remember late nights and countless hours with my Yoda talking about all the fine details to get to Victory Lane at the Speedway,” said Pagenaud, adding he considered de Ferran a role model not only as a racing driver but also as a father.

“I got to be very close to him, Angela, Anna and Luke through the years,” said Pagenaud, 40. “Through this tribute I’m so happy we will get to remember Gil winning Indianapolis in this iconic Team Penske livery. The colors, the helmet, the sound, the memories…and the fact that he taught me everything about this place (IMS).

“When I got the call from Angela, Luke and Anna and they asked me to drive Gil’s car, I could not help the tears as I feel so thankful to have the chance to remind everyone on this amazing day of racing of the great racer, father and man he was.”

The white-and-orange No. 6 car has been in the care of Penske Restoration, and looks marvelous. During the tribute lap, Simon will wear a helmet he designed in memory of his friend. Details of the helmet will be disclosed before Sunday’s tribute via Simon’s social media accounts.

Pagenaud has not competed in INDYCAR since crashing his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda during practice at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on July 1. The car’s brakes failed at-speed, sending him into a series of frightening rollovers at 180 mph. Pagenaud walked away from the wreckage unaided but began experiencing significant concussion-like symptoms. He subsequently was ruled out from driving by INDYCAR’s medical team. Although he reportedly has made significant strides in a bid to return to racing, the healing process continues 10 months after the crash.

De Ferran, a Paris-born Brazilian, shelved his pursuit of a fulltime Formula One ride in 1995 when he joined legendary Texan Jim Hall at Hall/VDS Racing in Midland. Hall’s single-car INDYCAR team finished sixth in the standings in 1996 with Honda power. De Ferran then moved to former Penske employee Derrick Walker’s emerging team in 1997.

De Ferran joined Roger Penske’s revamped open-wheel lineup in 2000, winning the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car World Series titles for Team Penske. De Ferran retired from INDYCAR at the end of the 2003 season.

De Ferran set the closed-course land speed record during qualifying at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., in 2000 with a hot lap of 241.428 mph in the Team Penske Reynard 2K1 Honda. That record still stands.

De Ferran’s post open-wheel career included participating in the American Le Mans Series as owner/driver of the de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a LMP1 team _ and as mentor to a young Pagenaud.

Pagenaud joined Team Penske in 2015, three years after being voted NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year while driving for Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports. Pagenaud won the 2016 driver’s championship for Team Penske on the strength of five victories, 10 top-five and 12 top-10 results over a 16-race schedule. Simon also posted a series-best seven poles while leading 12 races and 406 laps.

Pagenaud’s Penske career peaked in 2019, when he won the Indy 500 from pole position along with the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the IMS Road-Course, completing a sweep of the “Month of May” in his No. 22  Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. Despite winning three races, Simon finished second to teammate Josef Newgarden in the driver standings.

Starting lineup for the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge NTT IndyCar Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with rank, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:

1.(3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 02:33.7017 (234.220 mph)
2. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 02:33.9007 (233.917)
3. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 02:33.9726 (233.808)
4. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 02:34.4469 (233.090)
5. (17) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 02:34.6083 (232.848)
6. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 02:34.7110 (232.692)
7. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 02:34.7657 (232.610)
8. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 02:34.7829 (232.584)
9. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 02:34.9686 (232.305)
10. (75) Takuma Sato, Honda, 02:35.0578 (232.171)
11. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 02:35.8490 (230.993)
12. (23) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 02:36.1367 (230.567)
13. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 02:34.9616 (232.316)
14. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 02:34.9682 (232.306)
15. (6) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 02:35.0184 (232.230)
16. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 02:35.0504 (232.183)
17. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 02:35.1608 (232.017)
18. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 02:35.2069 (231.948)
19. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 02:35.2458 (231.890)
20. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 02:35.2587 (231.871)
21. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 02:35.2723 (231.851)
22. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 02:35.2750 (231.847)
23. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 02:35.2888 (231.826)
24. (33) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 02:35.3852 (231.682)
25. (66) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 02:35.4554 (231.578)
26. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 02:35.4982 (231.514)
27. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 02:35.5034 (231.506)
28. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 02:35.5308 (231.465)
29. (24) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 02:35.6803 (231.243)
30. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 02:35.7768 (231.100)
31. (51) Katherine Legge, Honda, 02:36.4590 (230.092)
32. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 02:36.5037 (230.027)
33. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 02:36.5396 (229.974)