Article and photos by Earl Ma



  The Amazing Spiderman
(no dash)
Helio Castroneves climbs CART's fence of success

 

Leaving the pits, Houston 2000

In an ultra-competitive 2000 CART season with a series record eleven different winners, arguably the most endearing moment came at the conclusion of the Detroit Grand Prix in June.An unequivocally overjoyed Helio Castroneves, having just scored his first career victory in his Marlboro Team Penske ride, parked his Reynard during his cooloff lap, sprang out ofthe cockpit, and with helmet still on, leapt gleefully in the direction of his cheering fans and scaled up the safety fencing in delight. The crowd collectively roared its approval, then didthe same when Helio triumphed again at Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca.

It wasn't a radioactive bug which triggered the genesis of this superhero but the racing bug, with young Helio stowing away in his father's car on countless trips to the paddocks in his native Brazil."I consider myself a guy that works very hard, with a great family supporting me. Without them, no doubt about it, I wouldn't be here today," he says about his close-knit brood, including his sisterand manager Kati. "With all these people around me and supporting me, they've made my dreams come true and my desires bigger and bigger. And of course, believing in one guy, which isthe guy upstairs - that's the main reason I'm here today."

Castroneves moved from karts to single-seaters in the early 1990's, then placed third in the 1995 British F3 championship, bringing him to the attention of Steve Horne stateside.The Miami resident drove for Horne's powerhouse Tasman Motorsports Indy Lights team in 1996-97, placing four points shy of countryman Tony Kanaan in the title chase before both graduated toChamp Cars in 1998. He finished second to Kanaan again in the Rookie of the Year competition, leading late at Long Beach in only his third career start and scoring a fine 2nd place at Milwaukeefor the late Tony Bettenhausen's outfit. But sponsorship woes at season's end forced Bettenhausen to reluctantly release Castroneves in favor of a paying driver. Surprisingly, the late Carl Hoganpromptly stepped in, dismissing his contracted driver J.J. Lehto and scooping Helio up instead.

"No doubt about it, I learned a lot from Tony," Castroneves recalls. "I have to thank him for my career and for giving me my first opportunity to start (in CART) - not only him, but Hogan. With them, Iwas very fortunate to have the right people around and to be able to learn with those guys. No doubt about it today, Penske is a first-class team, but with these guys, I was (also) able to understandvery well. I started out low (dollar) and have been able to grow and grow.

"That's the way it naturally should be. With more experience comes more money. I'm glad I've been able to do that, and I'm glad I'm able to do what I love to do, which is to race and go out there to kick some butt!"

Aerial view, Houston 1998
Castroneves had a successful 1998 rookie season with Bettenhausen Motorsports.

Hogan's gamble paid off, as Castroneves kicked butt by finishing 2nd at Gateway and winning his first pole at Milwaukee. But after numerous Mercedes engine failures while running up front, Hoganfolded his sponsorless team, giving Helio the bad news on the eve of the season finale at Fontana.

The dark day which followed amid Greg Moore's death yielded a silver lining, as Roger Penske, having earlier signed Moore to partner Gil de Ferran in his revamped team for 2000, immediatelysought out the suddenly unemployed Castroneves' services.

"It's tough to come to a team where you don't know anyone," Castroneves says about his new surroundings. " It was my third year with a new team, but it turned out to be a very good one. Theyreceived me very well, which was the first thing I noticed - and it was nice, because we worked well together. I had so many people around me who helped me try to understand and learn a lot.So the first job was to learn, every time a question came up. Then, I had to adapt to a first class team, to having a teammate and to all the equipment as well."

De Ferran credits the fast-learning Castroneves with a key role in his 2000 championship. "I think Helio started out already at a very high level and only kept improving throughout the year. He'sbeen a tremendous teammate in more ways than one. He's been pushing me very hard, and at the same time, he's helping the team - he gives us another baseline.

"For me, it's a competitor in the house, but it's a healthy rivalry, and we both try to help each other as much as we can. In that way, the level of the team overall rises a little bit higher."

Brazilian brotherhood
The Penske duo of Castroneves and de Ferran make up a quarter of the Brazilian contingent, alongwith Luis Garcia and Roberto Moreno.

Castroneves sees de Ferran as not only a teammate and mentor, but also a sort of big brother figure. "It's great having him as a teammate, first of all, because we're from the same country. Sothere are jokes, and we always talk about the track, professional matters, or changes being made to the car. It's easier having someone from your home country to communicate with and toexpress, 'this is the way I like it, or I don't like it.' It's been a help to both of us.

"I try to share as much as I can between both of us, because I have 26 competitors but there are only two between us. I've learned a lot not only from him but from all the people on the team - theyteach me a lot mechanically and otherwise. I'm glad that I'm able to keep up with this guy and that we're able to work together."

If de Ferran's normally taciturn demeanor rubs off on Castroneves and improves the younger driver's consistency, Helio could well be a serious title threat this season. "My expectations for 2000was to win 2-3 races, and we achieved that. But it's funny, because my expectations during the year got higher! It's much more than that (now). So I'm still going to try to accomplish that, plus scoreas many points as possible and try to change my luck (overall) during this year. When you get to where you're leading races and winning races, you start thinking that in the future, sometimes thefastest guy is not going to be the winner."

Another new challenge comes this May, when Team Penske returns to the Indy 500 after dominating the Brickyard thoughout the 1980's and early 1990's, only to suffer the indignity of missing theshow in 1995 before the CART-IRL split sent them into exile.

Castroneves, who tested a G-Force at Indy in August and placed 18th at this year's IRNLS season opener in Phoenix (running in second when the engine expired), relishes the opportunity. "I alwayshad respect for (team adviser) Rick Mears, but now I have even more for him to win four times over there! The track's unbelievable and technical, especially with a different car. I didn't know the car,and I was trying to be careful. I was really glad to have that opportunity, and that's going to be in my pocket now."

All smiles
Helio is almost always all smiles in the paddock.

The outgoing personality and infectiously unbridled enthusiasm of Castroneves (who dropped the "dash" from his hyphenated surname last year for simplicity's sake), coupled with his recenton-track success, makes him one of the most popular racers on the CART roster. Supporters quickly bestowed upon him the nickname "Spiderman" in light of his victory celebrations.

"The fans really enjoy it, and it's just a moment to express myself in a good way," Helio says about this ritual. "I'm a very emotional guy, and I hope I can show how happy I am when I win a race...ofcourse, I want to celebrate with the guys, but I also want to celebrate with the people, because they stay there watching the race. I remember I was (once) on the other side of the fence as well, so Iunderstand how they feel, and I really like to share that moment with them.

"When I won my first race, I had no idea (what to do) - no clue. I was thinking about how Alex Zanardi did his donuts, and I was thinking, 'I cannot copy him doing donuts! What do I have to do?I don't know - drive around backwards?'

"I looked on my left, and I saw the crowd cheering. I felt I should go there, and I didn't see anyone around there (in the way). And I said, 'you know what? I'll go there.' I just screamed and jumpedand climbed the fence, and it was really spontaneous, saying 'thank God!' It's a great trademark, and I hope to keep it."

Castroneves, who showed up at last year's Runway Madness fundraiser in Fontana dressed up as his hypenated Marvel Comics namesake, vows he won't stop despite CART admonishing himfor stopping his winning car well outside the designated podium area. "It's OK as long as I park where I'm supposed to park, but sometimes the podium's not in a nice place. If it's not in a nice place,I'll pay whatever they want. Just doing that - whatever the fine can be, I'm sure I'll be able to cover that!

 

©2001 Earl Ma and SpeedCenter

 

 

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