News: Racing
Brazilian aged 46 with part-time entry becomes only fourth to take Brickyard quadruple
Helio Castroneves has entered the Indianapolis 500’s pantheon by last Sunday taking his fourth victory in the famous race, becoming only the fourth to reach that total.
The 46-year-old, competing for Meyer Shank Racing in a part-time entry as one of the oldest drivers in the field, in a thrilling race made his decisive move for the lead with two laps to go, sweeping by Ganassi’s
Alex Palou.
Castroneves therefore joins AJ Foyt, Al Unser Sr and Rick Mears as the only four-time winners of the US single-seater blue-riband event. The Brazilian’s first Indy 500 win was two decades ago in 2001 while his most recent previous triumph was in 2009.
It also was the Meyer Shank team’s first-ever IndyCar win, and Castroneves’s first Indy 500 victory not with Team Penske.
His latest win sparked sensational celebration scenes from Castroneves on the pitstraight – in front of the 135,000 fans – alongside team members, rivals and US racing legend Mario Andretti. Castroneves also completed his trademark ‘Spider-Man’celebration, climbing up the debris fence.
“This stage is absolutely incredible, I love Indianapolis! The fans give me energy!,” said the elated winner. “Tom Brady won the Super Bowl, Phil Mickelson won the [US PGA golf], so the older guys are still kicking the young guys’butt!”
The second half of the race was characterised by a captivating three-way battle for first between Castroneves, Palou and Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward.
This followed a mid-race caution period caused by a major smash for Graham Rahal when his leftrear wheel detached exiting the pits. Rahal, with strong pace and fuel mileage, had looked a victory contender. He ruefully commented that “we had them today, we should have [won]”.
Poleman and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was another hard-luck story, when he lost a lap early on as under a safety car he ran out of fuel as he pitted for an emergency top-up, and his car then wouldn’t fire up until it had cooled. Dixon finished 17th. Results
1 Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing) 2h37m19.3846s; 2 Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) +0.4928s; 3 Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske); 4 Patricio O’Ward (Arrow McLaren SP); 5 Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing); 6 Santino Ferrucci (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing); 7 Sage Karam (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing); 8 Rinus Van Kalmthout (Ed Carpenter Racing); 9 Juan Pablo Montoya (Arrow McLaren SP); 10 Tony Kanaan
(Chip Ganassi Racing). Championship: 1 Palou 248; 2 Scott Dixon 212; 3 O’Ward 211; 4 Pagenaud 201; 5 Van Kalmthout 191; 6 Josef Newgarden 184.