Simon Pagenaud powers to chequered flag in Houston

Omnisports Pulse

June 30, 2014 2:01 AM

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Simon Pagenaud took out race two of the Grand Prix of Houston on Sunday.

Pagenaud consolidate fourth spot in the IndyCar Series standings with his second win of the 2014 campaign, at NRG Park in Texas.

After Saturday's race one had been all about Colombia - rookie Carlos Huertas topped an all-Colombian podium - Sunday's encounter saw more first-year drivers rise to the top.

Behind winner Pagenaud were rookies Mikhail Aleshin - Pagenaud's team-mate - and Jack Hawksworth for Bryan Herta Autosport.

Pagenaud took the lead off Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves on lap 49 and, moments later, the latter crashed out after coming into contact with eventual fifth-placegetter Sebastien Bourdais (KVSH Racing).

Castroneves blamed Bourdais for ending his race early.

"When I lost the lead with (Pagenaud), I was actually trying to attack him " and I was attacking him, trying to pass him," he said.

"I'm just trying to pass and I see I would be running out of room, so I come back to try and do (the corner), and I had no idea he (Bourdais) was there.

"When I'm attacking, I can't have my eyes in the back. So, it's absolutely ridiculous why the guy has to put the car over there. It's the rules of traffic " the guy that hits the guy in the back is always wrong. You've got to take care of it.

"It's just a shame that unfortunately, you have drivers like that that do not use common sense, and that's what we need to have. But it is what it is. It's always going to have ups and downs."

Brazilian Castroneves is second in the championship, behind leader and team-mate Will Power, and his retirement was an unfortunate result after he had led for all bar one lap prior to the incident.

Australia's Power was well back in 11th on Sunday, while Saturday's winner Huertas went off course early and retired on just the second lap.

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