Pagenaud joins Patron Highcroft

After going head-to-head against Patrón Highcroft Racing the last two years, young French sports car star Simon Pagenaud will join the championship-winning squad alongside David Brabham for the 2010 American Le Mans Series.

Pagenaud has been a key rival of the Danbury, Conn.-based team with de Ferran Motorsports during the past two seasons but will now join forces with Brabham to form a potent attack at the Honda Performance Development factory squad armed with the newly revised ARX-01c chassis.

"I'm very excited about 2010," Pagenaud said. "The last two years in the American Le Mans Series have been very important for my career and I am looking forward to returning as a driver for the Patrón Highcroft Racing Team alongside David Brabham, who I have a lot of respect for.

"Joining the Patron Highcroft Racing squad is a very exciting challenge. I enjoyed driving the ARX-01b in 2008 and the car went through a lot of development that year. I am looking forward to the updates on the ARX-01c for the 2010 season to make it even more competitive than it already is."

The 25-year-old Frenchman from Poitiers made his US debut in 2006, winning the Atlantic championship and defeating Graham Rahal in the process. He graduated to the Champ Car World Series in 2007, finishing eighth in points before making his sports car debut with Gil de Ferran at Salt Lake City in May 2008.

Pagenaud quickly demonstrated his tremendous skill set. His sports car career blossomed in 2009, taking three poles, five race victories and five fastest laps in the 10 American Le Mans Series races. He and de Ferran placed second in the LMP1 championship behind Brabham and Scott Sharp.

Pagenaud also contested the Spa-Francorchamps round of Le Mans Series in Europe - scoring pole position, the race victory and recording the fastest lap of the race in his only outing for the Peugeot factory team. Pagenaud also drove a privateer Peugeot 908 HDi FAP at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

That event in Belgium was the first time Pagenaud was a teammate with David Brabham - now the duo will be combined in the ARX-01c chassis.

"I am absolutely delighted that Simon is now part of the Patrón Highcroft team and will be my new teammate," Brabham said. "I've had two great years with Scott and now Simon comes in as one of the quickest and best sports car drivers out there. I think the two of us should be as quick as any of the combinations in the American Le Mans Series next year.

"Having somebody like Simon come aboard provides added motivation for me because he is a very fast driver and I think we are going to push each other very hard to squeeze more speed out the ARX-01c. I don't want Simon to come in and be faster than me and he doesn't want to be joining his new team and be slower than his teammate either. We're both very team focused but our combination together should certainly push us forward."

Brabham had a stunning 2009, taking his first American Le Mans Series championship alongside Sharp for Patrón Highcroft Racing and also scoring his first victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Peugeot.

One of the most experienced sports car drivers in the world, Brabham is the only driver to take pole and win races in every Series class.

Alongside his factory efforts for HPD and Peugeot, the English-based Australian ex-Formula 1 driver has also represented major factory efforts from Bentley, Aston Martin, Jaguar, BMW, Toyota, McLaren, Nissan and Panoz.

Pagenaud and Brabham will begin testing duties next month in preparation for the opening round of the 2010 American Le Mans Series that kicks off at the Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 20.