PARIS, Aug. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first
time the Indianapolis 500 winner's face
on the legendary Borg-Warner Trophy® was unveiled outside
the United States. 2019 Indy 500
winner Simon Pagenaud's likeness was unveiled in Paris, France, the country where 2019 winner
Simon Pagenaud was born.
Pagenaud, the 103rd winner of the Indianapolis 500 race, is the 106th face to be
permanently fixed to the trophy. Pagenaud was the 2016 NTT IndyCar
Series champion, has 14 career IndyCar Series race wins to date and
is the fifth French-born driver to win the Indianapolis 500.
"The Borg-Warner Trophy is one of the greatest traditions in all
of motorsports and represents the pinnacle of performance for
open-wheel racing. It is our honor to unveil Simon's image today,"
said Fred Lissalde, President and CEO, BorgWarner Inc. "Simon
has earned his right amongst an elite group of motorsports
athletes. On behalf of BorgWarner and our 30,000 employees,
congratulations to Simon for this outstanding achievement of
dedication and perseverance."
Creating a sterling silver three-dimensional likeness of
Pagenaud's face takes skill and talent. To design the image,
sculptor William Behrends, who has
been crafting faces which adorn the trophy since 1990,
conducts a multi-phase process. That process starts the day after
the race where a 360-degree series of headshots are taken of the
winner. Next, an in-studio session takes place where Pagenaud poses
while Behrends works on a full-scale clay model of his face to
better capture Simon's personality. The life-size clay model is
then used as a three-dimensional reference for the creation of the
smaller clay image, which is perfected in polysulfide rubber and
plaster, among a series of other processes, to refine the face and
capture even the smallest smile line, scar or forehead wrinkle.
Eventually, the image is cast in wax, cleaned up and sent to a
jeweler to transform the image from wax to sterling silver. Once
that is complete, Behrends polishes, buffs and refines the image
before affixing it to the Borg-Warner Trophy.
"For a race car driver, having your likeness live on forever is
like a writer when they publish a book," said Pagenaud. "It's your
book. It's going to stay. That is why this race is so important.
Your image, the way you looked when you won, is going to stay
forever on that legendary trophy. It's very special."
Pagenaud's face is the 106th face to be featured on the 110-pound sterling silver trophy. BorgWarner
commissioned the creation of the iconic racing award in 1935 to
honor winners of the Indianapolis 500.
The first driver to be awarded the trophy was Louis Meyer, who in 1936 was presented with the
trophy featuring the previous 24 winner's faces. The trophy is an
integral part of the annual Indianapolis 500 tradition. Drivers from 21 U.S.
states and 12 countries are represented on the trophy.
The permanent home of the 5 feet, 4-3/4 inches tall trophy is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, located
within the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Drivers receive a
keepsake trophy, the BorgWarner Championship Driver's Trophy® (also
known as the "Baby Borg"), a miniature replica of the famous
trophy, with an exact copy of their sterling silver image mounted
to it. BorgWarner will present Pagenaud with his Baby Borg later
this year.
In addition to the driver receiving a miniature replica of the
Borg-Warner Trophy, the team owner also receives a mini replica of
the trophy, the BorgWarner Championship Team Owner's Trophy®. 2019
is a historic year for this trophy, as Roger Penske's Team Penske adds to his already
record-setting number of Indianapolis
500 team wins, with Penske earning his 18th BorgWarner Championship
Team Owner's trophy in 2019.
About BorgWarner
BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) is a global product leader in clean
and efficient technology solutions for combustion, hybrid and
electric vehicles. With manufacturing and technical facilities in
67 locations in 19 countries, the company employs approximately
30,000 worldwide. For more information, please visit
borgwarner.com.
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SOURCE BorgWarner