Helio Castroneves
Helio Castroneves
Hélio Castro-Neves, better known as Hélio Castroneves, is a Brazilian auto racing driver competing in the IndyCar Series. In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 23 wins and 38 poles, and placed second in the season standings four times, third two times and fourth four times. Prior to IndyCar, Castroneves competed in the CART championship, with a highest championship points finish of fourth; he recorded six wins and seven pole positions in the series...
NationalityBrazilian
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth10 May 1975
CitySao Paulo, Brazil
CountryBrazil
It was a tough run and we tried really hard. The track changed a little bit from the morning to the afternoon which was a little bit to our favour. We tried something in the beginning of the top-six qualifying and it didn't work, and we had to stop right away. We used the tyres up and the track was better. At the end of the day, I don't think we would have been able to catch Ryan. He did a good job. Now we look forward to the race tomorrow and hopefully will do well.
It's awesome starting up front. We were fast in practice, but I know everybody will pick it up as well tomorrow.
Everybody has a destiny. That's the only thing I would tell him. He's there for a reason. He should just do the job he was hired to do.
Even when I was in the lead, I was getting too close to the wall, trying to make up time. I drove like I stole it.
That's a good problem to have. Maybe they'll have to bring out a piece of fence to the start-finish line.
We're not here to make a statement. It's good the results are showing up at the track. The last few years we've been working extremely hard. Toyota worked hard with us, and unfortunately, Honda was always at the top of the game. Right now things are more balanced, so we are very happy those two years paid off.
When everyone jokes about (taking chances), there's a little bit of truth to it, ... Hopefully people have learned from what happened (at Sonoma).
Wow, I don't even know what to say. Those final ten laps were the hardest in my life. The race reminded me a lot of 2002 when I won my second Indianapolis 500 -- to be able to win the first time in a touring car is just an amazing feeling. I'm so fortunate to have had this opportunity and to have been able to compete with three wonderful drivers. We had a great team and a fantastic car. I just consider myself lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.
Unfortunately, I think we made the wrong choice on our race setup, and the Marlboro Team Penske car had a tremendous push in Turns 3 and 4. Those corners were my biggest problem. I could barely touch the throttle going through there. The team made front wing adjustments on both of our pits stops, but it didn't really help. All considering, I'm pretty happy with a fourth-place finish.
I'll do my best, ... That's all I can promise.
I hope my competitors did not learn anything,
Close to the end, when I saw Sam coming, I tried to make a move. I tried to take advantage of the momentum, put me side by side with Dan. But it just was not enough. If we would be like NASCAR and have bumpers, I'm sure we would have won the race by now.
Being patient, and backing off. A race is not won on the first lap. A car changes during a race.
I really didn't know I was winning until I was behind the pace car.