'I have more fuel to burn than ever' - Castroneves

Sunday, 17 September 2017


By Mark Glendenning / Images by IMS Photo & Scott LePage/LAT



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Helio Castroneves says that his motivation remains undiminished despite the ongoing lack of any formal news about his future.

The three-time Indy 500 winner finished fifth in Sonoma on Sunday, which left him fourth in the standings at the end of what is expected to be his final full IndyCar campaign before a switch to Penske's new sports car program in 2018.

Speaking after what is likely to be his last road course appearance in an IndyCar, the 42-year-old insisted that he still has plenty to offer.







"I feel that I'm in my prime," he said. "I feel that I have more fuel to burn than ever.
"Whatever happens in the future... sometimes you can use that in different ways, and [that's] something that I learned in the past. Sometimes we've got to dance according to the music. But at this point, we're definitely going to announce... I feel whatever it's going to be, if it's moving on [to sports cars] or not, I'm going to continue to be motivated and keep working hard to achieve my goals, which is winning races."
Castroneves secured his sixth consecutive top-five championship finish at Sonoma, and said that he will remember his 2017 campaign for the highlights rather than the missed opportunities.
"I'm always going to focus on the positive," he said. "I'm not going to focus on, Texas, we had a problem, or other races that I missed strategy, or me making mistakes. You've got to think about, it was another season that we pushed as hard as we could, and another top four.
"Sometimes it's funny because you see the statistics – I finished second [in the championship] four times. But the P4 is not what it represents, because we were in a [championship] battle a lot more years than that. And that's what I look at. Each year, that's what kept me motivated to come back and push hard.
"I would say it's hard to keep up like I've been doing all these years, I think it's the hardest thing to do. But it doesn't just happen. It comes with a great team. It comes with great dedication from your guys, great trust, and obviously myself to keep motivating [myself], finding ways to keep pushing and having teammates like I have today, no question, helped me to become a better driver."