IndyCar Takes Weekend Off; The Drivers Don't

For the first weekend since April 28th the Izod IndyCar Series is not racing, giving the teams a hard earned weekend off. But just because the teams are getting some rest and relaxation doesn't mean the drivers are.

Simon Pagenaud, Justin Wilson and Sébastien Bourdais are spending there off week in a race car competing in two historic races.

Pagenaud will be competing in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a race that once counted towards the IndyCar championship during the USAC-era. He will be driving a Honda Odyssey, a minivan many would think would not be a suitable for such an endeavor. However, this Honda Odyssey has been fitted with the V6 Honda Racing Developement LMP2 engine producing around five-hundred horsepower. The other notable competitor in The Race to the Clouds is nine-time World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb who will be driving a Peugoet 208 T16. Live Coverage of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb can be found on RedBull.tv.

While Pagenaud and Loeb will be making the same run up the mountain Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser and Al Unser made forty-four years ago, Wilson and Bourdais will be competing in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, a race first held forty-five years ago. Wilson will be paired with former Firestone Indy Lights race winner Gustavo Yacamán in the #6 Mike Shank Racing. Bourdais returns to Starworks Racing, a team he won the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix with last year. His co-drivers will be former ChampCar driver Ryan Dalziel and Alex Popow. Due to heavy rains Saturday, qualifying was rained out setting the grid by points. The #2 Starworks entry starts third with the #6 Shank entry starting eighth. Watkins Glen is also the second round of the three round North American Endurance Championship. The Ganassi team of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas leads those standings.

Other News:
The NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky was rained out last night and has been scheduled for noon today.

Conor Daly had a weekend to forget at Silverstone in GP3. He finished twenty-second and retired in a lap one accident in the two races. He is now third in points, eighteen back of points leader Tio Ellinas.

Alexander Rossi had a better weekend at Silverstone in GP2. He finished tenth and ninth in the two races, picking up one championship point.