Simon Pagenaud admits he is impressed by the potential showcased so far from Scott McLaughlin, who will make his IndyCar debut at Indianapolis later this year.

The two-time Australian Supercars champion will contest the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May, following on from a test with Team Penske at Sebring in January.

At the time, Penske’s team president Tim Cindric confirmed that it was analysing the situation to see where it could fit the Kiwi in for a race start, with confirmation of his Indianapolis drive coming a couple of weeks later.

McLaughlin will team up with Will Power, reigning series champion Josef Newgarden and the 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud in two months’ time, with the latter assisting the 26-year-old at his Sebring test.

Speaking about what he has seen from McLaughlin so far, Pagenaud said: “He’s been impressive, I must say. When he came to Sebring, me and Josef, we went to the test, tried to help him. Also for us, it was the first time we could see the car on the track. We were all excited to see that.

“Scott got the first taste of it in 2020. I must say he did a really good job. He’s obviously a great champion. You don’t win the V8 Supercars champion twice without being an incredible driver. It’s expected for him to jump into anything and be fast and end up understanding the series.”

Pagenaud added that he sees McLaughlin’s eagerness to race in IndyCar as a positive thing for the series, as it showcases there is an interest from veterans of other championships to race in the North-American series.

“I’m as excited as you are,” the Frenchman said. “First of all, having champions come from other series for Indycar is really good. It just shows the interest. It just shows that the series is on the upward trend. I’m excited to see

him come in, do a few races this year.

“I think he’s going to bring fresh blood, a new perspective. That could be very interesting for our development as well. I’m looking forward to it. He’s a great guy, so far it’s been a great relationship. We’ll see how he goes. I hope he does well. I think it’s going to be awesome for us to gather more fans.”

The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series gets underway in just over a weeks’ time in St. Petersburg. 12 months ago, Newgarden won the event for Team Penske.