Pagenaud may bow out of Champ Car

UPDATE #2 This rumor may be downgraded to 'false' soon as we hear that Pagenaud is working to do a deal with Walker Racing to race in the IRL instead of sports cars as previously thought. We have updated the IRL Silly Season page accordingly.

02/11/08 With Simon Pagenaud's apparent lack of sponsorship, rumors are abound about his future in Champ Car. Dailysportscar.com has reported that Pagenaud is testing for the Creation team. Rumor has it that Pagenaud, who raced for Team Australia in Champ Cars in 2007 will be with the squad for 2008. It is thought at this stage that Pagenaud will be racing for the Le Mans Series season in Europe along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Simon Pagenaud

12/23/07 In an interview with an Italian-based racing website RaceGarage.it, Pagenaud says he is hopeful of returning with Team Australia adding the team are currently searching for enough sponsorship to field two cars again next season.

Pagenaud's ride in 2007 with Team Australia was helped out by the fact that he brought with him a $2-million bonus for winning the Champ Car Atlantic title in 2006.

The Frenchman says he is also speaking to Forsythe/Pettit Racing about possibly joining that team. The team recently made headlines with reports that owner Gerald Forsythe has asked Paul Tracy to renegotiate the remaining four years left on his deal with the team. Pagenaud says he knows nothing about that situation or if it's tied to his talks with the team. He has been added to our 2008 Champ Car Silly Season page