No timeline for Pagenaud return, but progress being made in recovery from Mid-Ohio crash

Although he didn’t know it at the time, Simon Pagenaud’s season came to an end with the unfortunate crash at Mid-Ohio on June 30 that was caused by a brake component failure on his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda.

By the conclusion of the season finale at Laguna Seca, the 2016 NTT IndyCar Series champion and winner of the 2019 Indianapolis 500 will have missed eight races due to the effects of the concussion he received during the barrel roll into the runoff area.

Despite undergoing frequent checkups with IndyCar’s medical team, Pagenaud has yet to receive clearance to resume driving, and as a result, he’ll have to look to the post season to make a return in testing.

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“I have been working with an excellent team of doctors and I have made progress,” Pagenaud shared in a social media post on Monday. “The doctor’s advice is for me to take more time to continue my way back to 100%, so I will not be racing the final two races of the 2023 season.

“The accident left me with lingering post-concussion symptoms. I am working hard to get back to 100% but this type of recovery is unique in time to each individual. I wish I could be out there doing what I love and driving my race car, but the accident was very violent and left me to focus on the task at hand: my health and recovery.”

With MSR’s Tom Blomqvist set to race in Pagenaud’s No. 60 Honda at the penultimate and final rounds of 2023, and a lack of clarity with regard to where he will continue racing, the Frenchman closed his post on a selfless note as he prepares to chart the next steps in his career.

“I will be watching the end of the IndyCar season and wish good luck to everyone involved in this closing of the championship,” he said.

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