Record triumph in front of 135,000 fans: Castroneves races for the fourth Indycar title


Record triumph in front of 135,000 fans
Castroneves is racing for the fourth Indycar title

After a compulsory break, fans can now again take part in the 500-mile race in Indianapolis. And they experience a spectacle: In the penultimate lap, Helio Castroneves takes the lead and then wins. Thus the “Spiderman” sets the title record.

The Brazilian Helio Castroneves made history in the legendary 500-mile race in Indianapolis and won the endurance classic for the fourth time after 2001, 2002 and 2009. Before “Spiderman”, this feat was only achieved by the Americans Anthony Joseph Foyt, Rick Mears and Alfred “Al” Unser.

“I love Indianapolis. It’s just overwhelming,” Castroneves said before the awards ceremony in front of 135,000 approved fans. “I can’t thank everyone who made this possible.” His team of Michael Shank and James Meyer, with technical support from Andretti Autosport, celebrated their first success in Indianapolis. The winner achieved an average of 361.221 kilometers per hour on his fastest race lap.

Castroneves, who turned 46 20 days ago and started eighth in his Honda-Dallara, only took the lead from Alex Palou on the 199th and penultimate lap. The Spaniard with his Honda-Dallara was left behind after 200 laps (804.5 kilometers), just 0.4928 seconds behind. In third place, the Frenchman Simon Pagenaud in the Chevrolet-Dalara was just 0.5626 seconds short of his second triumph in the “Indy 500” after 2019. The best-placed of the total of seven former Formula 1 drivers was the two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya from Colombia Ninth place.

After no spectators were admitted for the first time in the history of the race last year due to the corona pandemic, the capacity of the huge “noodle pot” was allowed to be used up to 40 percent this time. All available 135,000 seats were sold out. According to the organizers, the PS spectacle was the best-attended sporting event since the beginning of the corona pandemic.

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