Simon Pagenaud’s off-season leap from fast but flaky to fast and champion elect has been astonishing to many. But his race engineer Ben Bretzman is the man least surprised, as he tells David Malsher. DM: We always knew Simon had the talent and he was often fast last year. The big jump we’ve witnessed in 2016, I feel, is in his confidence. At Long Beach Simon appeared to be struggling through Friday practice compared with the other three Penskes, but when it mattered – qualifying – then boom, he was right up there. Speaking to Rick Mears about this he said, ‘Maybe Simon’s now at a stage where he doesn’t need to give 100 percent for a whole lap to know what he’s got, or he’s...
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