Castroneves apologises over IndyCar tirade

Reuters

OH NO: Helio Castroneves reacts after hearing of his penalty in the Edmondon IndyCars race.

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Helio Castroneves has apologised for his tirade following his penalty in an IndyCar race in Canada that handed victory to New Zealand's Scott Dixon.

Castroneves crossed the finish line first in yesterday's race in Edmonton, but was penalised for blocking teammate Will Power of Australia on the final restart, giving the victory to Dixon.

Enraged by the decision, the Brazilian driver bolted from his car after the race and started screaming at IndyCar officials, touching one on the chest and grabbing another by the collar.

The second official, who was much bigger than the driver, didn't react to Castroneves, who was eventually pulled back.

Castroneves issued an apology for his post-race actions on his website today (NZ time).

"Although we do not agree to the penalty, there is no excuse for my actions after the checkered flag," he said.

"I apologise to my team, our sponsors, the fans and the entire IZOD IndyCar Series community for my behavior.

"My actions were totally wrong and I acted inappropriately to some people who are my friends and people I respect very much. Obviously, I am a very emotional person and today I let my emotions get the better of me and I'm very sorry for that."

The incident happened with three laps to go after Simona De Silvestro drove off the course after running out of fuel. Power gunned to the outside of Castroneves and appeared to have a good enough run for the pass, but had to back off after Castroneves altered his line.

IndyCar Series competition president Brian Barnhart black-flagged the No 3 Team Penske car for blocking, but Castroneves refused to take the drive-through penalty, bypassing the pits twice on his way to crossing the finish line first.

The flag man held the checkers when Castroneves passed, waving it few seconds later when Dixon crossed for his second IndyCar win this season. Castroneves, who lost the 2008 Detroit Grand Prix to Justin Wilson in similar fashion, was dropped to 10th.

"Obviously, I disagree with the decisions made by the race officials on the last restart in today's race," he said. "It was absurd, because I never changed my racing line."

After the race, Barnhart stood by the decision and condemned Castroneves' post-checkers actions.

"It's really disappointing that it comes down to something like this," Barnhart said in a video posted on websites for IndyCar and the Versus network.

"In a situation like that, we as officials are just reacting to what happens on the racetrack. We don't create the situation; we respond to it. And the rule is clear in it. In every drivers' meeting, we talk about it."

- AP