St. Petersburg (United States) (AFP)

Simon Pagenaud, winner of the Indianapolis 500 miles and vice-champion last year, will have to wait longer than expected before trying to win everything in the 2020 season of IndyCar, the first four races of which were canceled on Friday at cause of coronavirus.

First announced behind closed doors, the Grand Prix of St Petersburg (Florida), which was to start on Friday and end on Sunday, will therefore not take place.

No race being maintained until the end of April, the American championship will start at the Indianapolis Grand Prix on May 9, just before its piece of bravery, the legendary 500 miles on May 24, except for new postponements or cancellations.

IndyCar ended up following the example of professional basketball, ice hockey and football leagues, which have suspended their seasons in North America, or F1, which canceled or postponed its first four races of 2020. .

"After careful consideration, including regular communications with our promoters, health authorities and municipal administrations in the localities of our races regarding COVID-19, we have decided to cancel all IndyCar events until end of April ", specify the championship organizers in a press release.

Are therefore canceled, in addition to the inaugural Grand Prix of St Petersburg, the Grand Prix of Alabama (April 5) and the Grand Prix of Austin (April 26). The Grand Prix of Long Beach (California), scheduled for April 19, had already been postponed to a date to be determined Thursday.

"We will continue to coordinate with public health experts and government officials to determine the appropriate plans for the resumption of our program," promises IndyCar.

- "Drive free" -

Will he manage to maintain this state of mind during this hiatus? Pagenaud (Penske) approached in any case what should have been his recovery this weekend "freed from all pressure".

Why? "Because after having achieved one of my dreams, being IndyCar champion in 2016, I was able to achieve the greatest of all, almost inaccessible, last season by winning the 500 miles of Indianapolis", explains French.

"So today, this pressure that I imposed on myself throughout my career has evaporated, I can drive free, it will make me better," added the 35-year-old driver, "more ready than ever, determined."

His confidence is all the greater since his car gave him satisfaction in the various pre-season tests. "And there was no problem with the + aeroscreen +, which gives good results in terms of both visibility and ventilation," he said.

The "aeroscreen" is the great novelty of the season in IndyCar, namely a glass protection around the cockpit whose heavy weight has forced the teams to adapt to the aerodynamic differences generated.

Pagenaud's main rival will be Josef Newgarden, the defending champion, first crowned in 2017. The 29-year-old American (also from Penske), who had to wait until the last race last season to win, wants " keep that momentum. "

Among the competition, if the New Zealander Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing), five-time champion, will be an experienced rival who will have his say, the next generation also points out, with Colton Herta (Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport) , who became the youngest winner of an IndyCar race in Austin last year at the age of 18.

These runners and the thirty others entered this year, including the other French Sébastien Bourdais (AJ Foyt Enterprises), must already have noted the date of May 24, that of the 500 miles of Indianapolis.

This weekend there, the Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Arrow McLaren SP) will try for the third time, after failures in 2017 and 2019, to win this so prestigious race which lacks his record to allow him to win the "triple crown" "motorsport.

He would then become the second driver in history, after the Briton Graham Hill in 1972, to achieve this by having already won the world title in F1 (or the Monaco Grand Prix according to the terms) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

© 2020 AFP