Mikhail Aleshin adjusts to IndyCar life

Mikhail Aleshin

A Russian and a Frenchman walk into a race shop…

Sounds like the opening to a joke, right?

But in the case of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports drivers Mikhail Aleshin and Simon Pagenaud, that's the reality of 2014 in the Verizon IndyCar Series, an 18-race exercise in assimilation on track and off.

As uncommon as the arrangement is, it seems to be working.

"I'm a Latin and he's a Russian, which is Eastern European, which is a very different character," said Pagenaud, who came to race in the United States in 2006.

"Mikhail is not a cold person, like you'd think, which is the (stereotype). He's actually a very warm guy when he opens up to you, he's very funny. But they do have this kind of character, this personality, which is very down to business."

Indeed, that has been Aleshin's approach since the 27-year-old from Moscow moved out of the European ladder system and became the first Russian to drive in the IndyCar Series.

To prepare for Sunday's ABC Supply Wisconsin 250, Aleshin came to a test at the Milwaukee Mile in June.

No brewery tour, no frozen custard, no Domes. Even with a partial rainout of the test, the time was consumed by racing-related activities.

"The first time I came to the U.S., I came to the workshop of the team, you know, in Indy, and I began working and preparing for Sebring," Aleshin said.

"And Sebring was the second place in the U.S. I go."

He has made time to visit Chicago — it's only a few hours from the sport's home base in Indianapolis — but with a compact schedule, Aleshin has had little time to sightsee.

In that respect, Aleshin's view of the United States isn't much different from that of Europe.

"I say to my friends, I've seen a lot of tracks around the world, but not a lot of the world, myself," Aleshin said.

"There's not a lot of time off, but I'm here to work, not to chill on the beach."

Oh yeah. No Bradford Beach either.

The nature of the schedule has not only kept Aleshin from learning much about the U.S. outside of racing, it's also kept his fellow drivers from learning much about Russia.

"We played some pingpong together (in a promotion in Milwaukee), which is probably the most time we've spent together other than being side-by-side for a lot of the race at Texas," said James Hinchcliffe, who already had been aware of Aleshin through a mutual friend in Europe.

"They obviously have a big interest in motorsports there. A Formula One track is going in now."

The first Russian Grand Prix in Sochi is set for Oct. 12. Vitaly Petrov, a native of Vyborg, raced in Formula One from 2010-'12. The Marussia F1 team, which is connected to a Moscow-based sports-car company, scored its first points this season with Jules Bianchi in Monaco.

Much of the history of Russian motor racing has involved touring cars and junior open-wheel formulas, Aleshin said, but interest in the higher levels of the sport is taking off.

One advantage to being a Russian driver in a big series is that there are so few that being noticed is a near certainty. During a visit home in March, Aleshin spent so much time with media that he barely had time to see family.

"I've been racing in Europe now under the Russian flag for already 15 years; well, 14 years and now I'm racing in the U.S.," said Aleshin, the 2010 champion in the World Series by Renault. "We had some difficulties in start of '90s for some obvious reasons" — the breakup of the former Soviet Union — "but now it's getting bigger.

"I think a good indication of how IndyCar is interesting and important for Russia is that now from this year, IndyCar is shown on the main sports channel in Russia, live every race. So believe me, it's getting bigger and bigger every race and I'm getting really good feedback from some people who've never seen it before."

Aleshin comes to Milwaukee 15th in the standings. That's 11 spots behind Pagenaud but still ahead of veteran Graham Rahal, Toronto winner Carlos Huertas and touted youngsters Josef Newgarden and Jack Hawksworth. His best finish is second in the second of two races at Houston.

Aleshin also has crashed out of five races. The most notable of those came in Toronto, where his car went under Juan Pablo Montoya's and got stuck until Montoya could be lifted off his head.

Overall, though, Aleshin's start to his American racing adventure — given he was racing in cars and on tracks that were unfamiliar and against competitors about whom he knew little — has gone better than Pagenaud would have imagined.

Aleshin's take?

"I always expect more. I'm never happy. I'm this kind of person," he said. "I want to win, and if I win the race, I think I could be still faster. So it's very likely I'm thinking bad of myself in the race, but realistically I understand it's hard to be much better than I am now in this situation I'm in now.

"But at the same time, I understand I just need to work as hard as I can and work as hard as I can outside of the car and the track, working with the team. Then it will all come, you know."

Perhaps a chance to look around will someday, too. JSOnline