Helio Castroneves was unable to gain positions in the Elkhart Lake GP and made a mistake in the final laps that dropped him to the back of the grid
Helio Castroneves didn't have a good day at the Elkhart Lake GP. Starting in the 16th position, the Brazilian had difficulties at the beginning of the race and couldn't make his way through the pack. Meyer Shank's strategy was also not enough to gain positions. At the end of the race at Road America, Castroneves tried to maneuver over Takuma Sato during a restart, but ended up spinning and ended the race in a frustrating 22nd place.
"It was pretty tough. At the beginning, I got stuck behind another car at the start and lost some positions at that point. Then I tried to be more aggressive and lost some more positions, and in the end we stayed there," reports Helinho.
"The car was behaving relatively well, the strategy was good with the red tires. At the end, I saw an opportunity to pass Sato, but I was too aggressive and it was my fault. So obviously it was not a good day for us, we would have been 15th or 16th, but now we have to pack up and go on to the next one," regretted the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion.
Josef Newgarden won the race after holding off his rivals in two restarts, one of them after the Brazilian's spin. This was the American's third win of the season. Simon Pagenaud, Helinho's teammate, finished 12th.
Castroneves' best result in 2022 is seventh place in the Indy 500, and he is currently 17th in the Indy standings. The Brazilian driver will be back on track on July 3, when the series returns for the Mid-Ohio GP.