Helio Castroneves

Hélio Castroneves 2011

Hélio Castro Neves , known as Hélio Castroneves , (born May 10, 1975 in São Paulo , Brazil ) is a Brazilian racing driver . After he was active in the US monoposto racing series CART from 1998 to 2001 , he has competed in the IndyCar Series since 2001 and was runner-up in 2002, 2008, 2013 and 2014. In 2001, 2002 and 2009 he won the Indianapolis 500 . Since 2000 he has been a driver for Team Penske .

His real name is Hélio Castro Neves . However, since there were frequent misunderstandings regarding his surname, he first called himself Castro-Neves and then finally Castroneves .

Career

Beginnings in motorsport

Hélio Castro Neves in the 1995 British Formula 3 Championship.

Castro Neves began his motorsport career in 1987 in kart racing , where he was active until 1991. In 1992 he switched to the single-seater racing and was immediately runner-up of the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet . In the next two years he first won the runner-up in the South American and a year later the runner-up in the Brazilian Formula 3. In 1995, Castro Neves moved to Europe and competed for Paul Stewart Racing in the British Formula 3 championship . With a win at the end of the year, he finished third in the drivers' standings behind his team-mate Ralph Firman , who finished second. He was also third behind Norberto Fontana and Ralf Schumacher at the Formula 3 Masters in Zandvoort .

In 1996 he switched to Indy Lights . After the US media named him Hélio Neves , he changed his spelling to Castro-Neves . He started for Tasman Racing and became a teammate of Tony Kanaan , with whom he has been friends since then. While winning a race and finishing seventh in the championship, Kanaan won the runner-up title. In 1997 the two Brazilians stayed with Tasman Racing. Castro-Neves won three races and dueled with Kanaan for the championship title. In the end he narrowly defeated him with 156 to 152 points and missed another championship title.

CART

In 1998 he switched to the CART series and changed his name to Castroneves . He started for Bettenhausen Racing . With a second place on the Milwaukee Mile , he showed his talent for the first time. Since he did not finish in some races, he finished his first season in 17th place overall. In 1999 Castroneves started for Hogan Racing . Again he finished a race, this time in Madison , in second place. Every race in which he crossed the finish line, he finished among the top ten drivers, but since he had to drop out in a few races, he only finished 15th overall at the end of the season.

In 2000 he switched to Team Penske and became a teammate of his compatriot Gil de Ferran . Originally, Penske wanted to start with de Ferran and Greg Moore . After Moore's fatal accident, the team decided to sign Castroneves. While de Ferran won the championship title, Castroneves won the races in Detroit , Lexington and Laguna Seca . No driver had won more races than he did, but due to the lack of consistency at the end of the season, it was only enough for seventh place overall. In 2001 he decided three more races for himself with victories in Long Beach , Detroit and Lexington. Even though he again won more races than de Ferran, he finished fourth while his compatriot was champion. He also competed in two races in the Indy Racing League and won the prestigious Indianapolis 500 on his first participation .

IndyCar Series

In 2002 Castroneves moved with his team to the Indy Racing League. He first decided the race in Avondale for himself and then defended his victory at the Indianapolis 500. In the end, he only had to admit defeat to Sam Hornish junior and was runner-up in his first full season. In 2003 it was again not enough for Castroneves to win the championship title in the championship, which has now been renamed the IndyCar Series . He won the races in Madison and Nazareth and finished the season in third place in the championship behind de Ferran, who finished second.

Hélio Castroneves in training for the Indianapolis 500 2007

In 2004 Castroneves received a new teammate for Team Penske in the form of the former Indy Racing League champion Hornish. Castroneves held his own against Hornish that season and finished fourth overall with a win at Fort Worth . In 2005 the positions in the team changed and Castroneves was first beaten by Hornish. Castroneves won the race at Richmond and finished sixth overall. In 2006 he won four races in St. Petersburg , Motegi , Fort Worth and Brooklyn , but it was again not enough for the title. With 475 to 473 points he narrowly defeated Hornish and was third behind his team-mate and Dan Wheldon , who was also runner-up with 475 points. In 2007 the Penske pilots did not compete for the championship title. With a win in St. Petersburg, Castroneves finished sixth in the drivers' standings, one position behind Hornish.

After Hornish Penske left in 2008 and Castroneves got a new teammate in Ryan Briscoe , he had chances of the title again in the season. Although he only won the races in Sonoma and Joliet , thanks to eight second places he had a chance of winning the championship until the last race weekend. With 646 to 629 he gave up Scott Dixon in the end and was runner-up in the IndyCar Series for the second time.

After the end of the 2008 season, Castroneves had to answer the charge of tax evasion. It was alleged that he evaded a total of $ 5.5 million between 1999 and 2004. During the investigation, he was released on bail for US $ 10 million and was also allowed to compete in the non-classified race in Surfers Paradise , Australia. For the 2009 season , Castroneves was initially released from the team and replaced by Will Power . Shortly before the second race of the 2009 season, after the trial was over, Castroneves was acquitted of all charges. Castroneves got his cockpit back immediately and Power, who had replaced him in the meantime, received a third Penske car in some races.

Hélio Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 for the third time in 2009

Castroneves made a strong comeback and won the Indianapolis 500 for the third time in 2009. Another victory followed two races later in Fort Worth. In the championship, however, he could no longer intervene and he also had to admit defeat to his teammate Briscoe. At the end of the season he finished fourth overall. In 2010 , Power received a complete cockpit from Penske, which from now on competed with three cars. After Castroneves had won the race in Birmingham at the beginning of the season , he secured another victory in the third last race in Sparta . He used a different strategy and did not stop within the last laps. While the pilots placed in front of him all had to pit again, Castroneves took the lead and won the race. A race later in Motegi, he took another win. He started from pole position, achieved the fastest race lap and led the race for three quarters of the race. While his team-mate Power won the runner-up title, he finally finished fourth in the drivers' championship.

Castroneves at the IndyCar race in Motegi 2011

In 2011 Castroneves had his eleventh IndyCar season with Penske. It was his first season without a win in the IndyCar Series and his first season without a win at all since 1999. Since he had referred to IndyCar race director Brian Barnhart as a "circus clown" after the race in Motegi, he drove the last two races of the season on probation. Castroneves had previously been relegated from 7th to 22nd place for a yellow flag overtaking maneuver. He finished the season as the worst Penske driver with two second places as the best results in eleventh place overall. He also took part in two races in the V8 Supercar Championship Series .

After his victory, Castroneves is on the track at Turn 10; he points to the Dan Wheldon Way sign and to heaven

In 2012 , Castroneves and Penske, who received a new engine partner in Chevrolet , stayed in the IndyCar Series. He succeeded in winning the opening race in St. Petersburg . It was his third win at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg . After the race, Castroneves stood out with a special gesture. As usual, he climbed the boundary, but this time not on the start-finish straight, but in a section of the route that was named after Dan Wheldon, who died in the IndyCar Series in 2011. With a third place in the following race in Birmingham , he kept the lead in the overall standings before relinquishing power to his teammate after the third race. Later in the season he won the Edmonton Indy . Castroneves was in fourth place in the drivers' championship, while Power was runner-up. In addition, Castroneves took part in a race of the Stock Car Brasil as a guest starter. In 2013 , Penske reduced its IndyCar team from three to two vehicles. Castroneves, like Power, kept his cockpit. At the season opener in Saint Petersburg , Castroneves was in the lead for most laps and finished second. One race later in Birmingham , Castroneves crossed the finish line in third place and took the lead in the drivers' championship. He lost this in his home race in São Paulo , where he finished in 13th place. After regaining the lead in Detroit with a fifth place, he won the subsequent race in Fort Worth . In West Allis and Toronto he was second again on the podium. In the races in between, Castroneves always finished in the top 10. In the first 16 races, Castroneves completed every race lap. At the penultimate event, the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston , which consisted of two races, Castroneves had a 49 point lead over second-placed Dixon at the beginning of the weekend. In both races, Castroneves had technical problems that forced him to stop for long repairs. With Dixon winning a race and finishing second once, Castroneves fell behind him in the championship. At the last race of the season in Fontana , Castroneves finished sixth, one place behind Dixon. This was the third time he was overall runner-up in the IndyCar Series. He lost to Dixon with 550 to 577 points. Castroneves was the best-placed Chevrolet driver in 2013. Within Penske, he prevailed for the first time against Power, who had scored 498 points. Castroneves also took part in an event organized by Stock Car Brasil. He had a serious accident during training, which he survived with minor injuries.

In 2014 Castroneves stayed with Power at Penske and received another teammate in Juan Pablo Montoya . Castroneves started the season with a third place in Saint Petersburg . He was also on the podium in both Indianapolis races. He finished third at the Grand Prix and second at the Indianapolis 500 . He delivered a duel against the eventual winner Ryan Hunter-Reay in the final phase . In the second race in Detroit Castroneves achieved his only win of the season. After a second place in Long Pond , he finished eighth in Newton . With that he took over the championship lead from his teammate Power. In the following race, the first run in Toronto , Castroneves was second. It was his sixth and final podium finish of the season. In the last five races of the season Castroneves did not make it into the top 10, so that after the fourth last race of the season he gave up the championship lead to Power. Before the last race of the season in Fontana , Castroneves was more than 50 points behind in second place. To win the title he would have had to be at least third. Castroneves started from pole position, but fell through a drive-through penalty from the leading lap and was finally 14th In the overall standings, Castroneves finished second for the fourth time in his career. With 609 to 671 points he lost to his teammate Power. In 2015 , Castroneves formed the Penske driver line-up together with Montoya, Power and Simon Pagenaud . Castroneves came second twice and third twice. He did not succeed in victory. He finished the season behind Montoya and Power in fifth place in the championship. In 2016 , the Penske driver line-up for the IndyCar Series remained unchanged. Two second places in Indianapolis and Toronto were Castroneve's best results, leaving him without a win for another season. He finished third behind his teammates Pagenaud and Power.

Personal

Hélio Castroneves lives with his longtime girlfriend Adriana Henao in Miami . The two have been parents to a daughter since December 2009.

Castroneves, who is managed by his sister Katiucia, is known to a wide audience in the United States , having won the 2007 American television show Dancing with the Stars . In 2012 he took part in an all-star version of Dancing with the Stars.

The fans gave him the name Spider Man because after his victories he traditionally climbs up the fence with a helmet and racing overalls to be celebrated.

Records

Castroneves is the driver with the most pole positions (32) in the IndyCar Series. He also managed to win at least one race in ten consecutive seasons and thus holds the record for most consecutive seasons with one win.

statistics

Career stations

1987-1991: karting 1992: Brazilian Formula Chevrolet (2nd place) 1993: South American Formula 3 (2nd place) 1994: Brazilian Formula 3 (2nd place) 1995: British Formula 3 (3rd place) 1996: Indy Lights (7th place) 1997: Indy Lights (2nd place) 1998 : CART (17th place) 1999 : CART (15th place) 2000 : CART (7th place) 2001 : CART (4th place) 2001 : Indy Racing League (24th place) 2002 : Indy Racing League (2nd place)

2003 : IndyCar Series (3rd place) 2004 : IndyCar Series (4th place) 2005 : IndyCar Series (6th place) 2006 : IndyCar Series (3rd place) 2007 : IndyCar Series (6th place) 2007: Rolex Sports Car Series , DP (63rd place) 2007: ALMS , LMP2 (16th place) 2008 : IndyCar Series (2nd place) 2008: Rolex Sports Car Series, DP (46th place) 2008: ALMS, LMP2 (12th place) 2009 : IndyCar Series (4th place) 2010 : IndyCar Series (4th place) 2011 : IndyCar Series (11th place)

2011: V8 Supercar Championship Series (63rd place) 2012 : IndyCar Series (4th place) 2013 : IndyCar Series (2nd place) 2014 : IndyCar Series (2nd place) 2015 : IndyCar Series (5th place) 2016 : IndyCar Series (3rd place) 2017 : IndyCar Series (4th place) 2018: WSCC , P (7th place) 2018 : IndyCar Series (32nd place) 2019: WSCC, P (3rd place) 2019 : IndyCar Series (29th place)

Individual results in the CART series

season	team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	Points	rank
1998	Bettenhausen Racing	MIA DNF	MOT 11	LBH 9	NAZ DNF	RIO DNF	GAT 7	MIL 2	DET 12	POR 13	CLE DNF	GATE 10	MIC 12	MDO DNF	ROA DNF	VAN DNF	LAG DNF	HOU DNF	SUR DNF	FON 10			36	17th
1999	Hogan Racing	MIA DNF	MOT 9	LBH DNF	NAZ DNF	RIO DNF	GAT 2	MIL DNF	POR DNF	CLE DNF	ROA DNF	GATE DNF	MIC DNF	DET 7	MDO 7	CHI 5	VAN 8	LAG DNF	HOU DNF	SUR DNF	FON DNF		48	15th
2000	Team Penske	MIA DNF	LGB 2	RIO DNF	MOT 13	NAZ DNF	MIL 16	DET 1	POR 7	CLE DNF	GATE DNF	MIC 5	CHI DNF	MDO 1	ROA 9	VAN DNF	LAG 1	GAT 9	HOU 5	SUR 6	FON 9		129	7th
2001	Team Penske	MTY 8	LGB 1	TEX C	NAZ 11	MOT 2	MIL DNF	DET 1	POR 17	CLE 12	GATE DNF	MIC 8	CHI 7	MDO 1	ROA 7	VAN 18	LAU 12	ROC 4	HOU 5	LAG 6	Sur 20	FON DNF	141	4th

( Legend )

Individual results in the IndyCar Series

year	team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	Points	rank
2001	Team Penske	PHX	HMS	ATL	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	STL	CHI	TX2							64	24.
		18th			1
2002	Team Penske	HMS	PHX	HAIRDRYER	NZR	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	KTY	STL	CHI	TX2					511	2.
		3	1	5	5	1	4th	2	17th	3	9	6th	5	2	4th	2
2003	Team Penske	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	STL	KTY	NZR	CHI	HAIRDRYER	TX2				484	3.
		3	2	22nd	2	7th	12	2	2	3	17th	1	5	1	20th	6th	13
2004	Team Penske	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	Mil	MIS	KTY	PPI	NZR	CHI	HAIRDRYER	TX2				446	4th
		2	6th	3	9	12	3	7th	3	12	10	12	6th	5	10	7th	1
2005	Team Penske	HMS	PHX	STP	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	Mil	MIS	KTY	PPI	SNM	CHI	WGL	HAIRDRYER			440	6th
		5	2	20th	11	9	5	1	8th	5	16	21st	5	4th	21st	2	12	9
2006	Team Penske	HMS	STP	MOT	INDY	WGL	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	Mil	MIS	KTY	SNM	CHI						473	3.
		2	1	1	25th	7th	1	10	6th	5	14th	1	3	5	4th
2007	Team Penske	HMS	STP	MOT	KAN	INDY	Mil	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	MIS	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI			446	6th
		9	1 *	7th	3	3	16 *	16	8th	11	18th	6th	3 *	17th	9	2	14th	4th
2008	Team Penske	HMS	STP	MOT	LBH	KAN	INDY	Mil	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	EDM	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	SRF	629	2.
		4th	2	2		4th	4th	5	2 *	14 *	2	16	3	2	2 *	2	1 *	2 *	1 *	7th
2009	Team Penske	STP	LBH	KAN	INDY	Mil	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	GOAL	EDM	KTY	MDO	SNM	CHI	MOT	HMS			433	4th
			7th	2	1	11	1	7th	17th	4th	18th	2	4th	12	18th	20th	10	5
2010	Team Penske	SAO	STP	ALA	LBH	KAN	INDY	TXS	IOW	WGL	GOAL	EDM	MDO	SNM	CHI	KTY	MOT	HMS			531	4th
		9	4th	1	7th	4th	9	20th	2	9	24	10	3	5	6th	1	1 *	5
2011	Team Penske	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	TXS		Mil	IOW	GOAL	EDM	MDO	NHA	SNM	BAL	MOT	KTY	LSV		312	11.
		20th	7th	12	21st	17th	10	4th	9	7th	17th	2	19th	17th	2	17th	22nd	29	C.
2012	Team Penske	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET	TXS	Mil	IOW	GOAL	EDM	MDO	SNM	BAL	HAIRDRYER					431	4th
		1	3	13	4th	10	17th	7th	6th	6 *	6th	1	16	6th	10	5
2013	Team Penske	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET		TXS	Mil	IOW	POC	GOAL		MDO	SNM	BAL	HOU		HAIRDRYER	550	2.
		2 *	3 °	10	13	6 °	5	8th	1*	2	8th	8th	6th	2 °	6th	7th	9	18th	23 °	6 °
2014	Team Penske	STP	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	HOU		POC	IOW	GOAL		MDO	Mil	SNM	HAIRDRYER		609	2.
		3 °	11	19th	3 °	2 ° 3.4	5 *	1*	8th	9	21 *	2	8 °	2 °	12 *	19th	11	18th	14 °
2015	Team Penske	STP	NOL	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	GOAL	HAIRDRYER	Mil	IOW	MDO	POC	SNM				453	5.
		4 °	2 °	2 °	15 °	6th	7 °	6th	19th	3 °	3 °	23 °	4th	11 °	15 °	16 °	15th
2016	Team Penske	STP	PHO	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		ROA	IOW	GOAL	MDO	POC	TXS	WGL	SNM				504	3.
		4th	11 °	3 *	7th	2 °	11 ° 9	5	14 °	5	13	2	15th	19th	5 °	3 °	7 °
2017	Team Penske	STP	LBH	ALA	PHO	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	ROA	IOW	GOAL	MDO	POC	STL	WGL	SNM			598	4th
		6th	9	4 °	4 °	5 °	2 ° 19	7 °	9	20th	3 °	1*	8 °	7th	7th	4 °	4 °	5
2018	Team Penske	STP	PHO	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	ROA	IOW	GOAL	MDO	POC	STL	POR	SNM			40	32.
						6th	27 8
2019	Team Penske	STP	COA	ALA	LBH	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	ROA	GOAL	IOW	MDO	POC	STL	POR	LAG			33	29
						21st	18 12

( Legend )

Remarks

1. ↑ Took place on the same day as the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
2. ↑ Took place on the same day as the Indy Japan 300.
3. ↑ No points were awarded.

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2007	Penske Racing	Porsche RS Spyder	Romain Dumas	Timo Bernhard	Rank 5
2018	Acura Team Penske	Acura ARX-05	Ricky Taylor	Graham Rahal	failure	Engine failure
2019	Acura Team Penske	Acura ARX-05	Ricky Taylor	Alexander Rossi	Rank 4

Web links

Commons : Hélio Castroneves  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of Hélio Castroneves (English)
• Career statistics from Hélio Castroneves (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Canaan and the smile under the helmet" (Motorsport-Total.com on June 21, 2010)
2. ↑ ^{a b} "Tax fraud: Does Castroneves have to go to jail?" (Motorsport-Total.com on October 3, 2008)
3. ↑ "Castroneves pleads" innocent "" (Motorsport-Total.com on October 4, 2008)
4. ↑ "Castroneves replacement: Penske opts for power" (Motorsport-Total.com on January 13, 2009)
5. ^ "Acquittal for Castroneves!" (Motorsport-Total.com on April 17, 2009)
6. ↑ “GM returns to IndyCar, another manufacturer might follow” ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (indystar.com on November 13, 2010)  
7. ↑ "IndyCar - Castroneves on probation" (Motorsport-Magazin.com on September 28, 2011)
8. ^ "Ryan Briscoe stays with Penske for 2012 IndyCar Series, alongside Helio Castroneves and Will Power" (autosport.com on November 3, 2011)
9. ^ "Castroneves and his gesture" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 25, 2012)
10. ↑ Pete Fink: "Briscoe wants to stay with Penske". Motorsport-Total.com, October 11, 2012, accessed November 10, 2012 . 
11. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: "Castroneves: Violent crash in stock car guest performance". Motorsport-Total.com, August 10, 2013, accessed August 15, 2013 . 
12. ↑ Pete Fink: "Officially: Montoya drives IndyCars for Penske!" Motorsport-Total.com, September 16, 2013, accessed on November 20, 2013 . 
13. ^ Mario Fritzsche: Four-car team: Penske obliges Pagenaud. Motorsport-Total.com, September 30, 2014, accessed March 5, 2015 . 
14. ^ "Castroneves: Baby there" (Motorsport-Total.com on December 30, 2009)
15. ^ "Castroneves in handcuffs and leg chains" (Motorsport-Total.com on October 4, 2008)
16. ^ Anne Proffit: "Castroneves Returns To Dancing With The Stars In All-Star Competition". motorauthority.com, July 27, 2012, accessed August 23, 2012 .