Helio Castroneves Quotes
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Being patient, and backing off. A race is not won on the first lap. A car changes during a race.
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Hopefully the 2 mph advantage we have on the speed chart continues the same way in the race.
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You aren't going to be able to pass by going past the guy and keep going so it will take quite a while to set up a pass. I will follow him closely and wait for him to make a mistake before I can make the pass. I have a very good car for that. I will also be saving fuel and pick up positions in the pits so I have so many things on my side.
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It was just not enough. If we were like NASCAR and had bumpers, I'm sure I would have won the race.
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It was a bad move on Ryan's part, you know. He had a great car, he was fast. Both of us were fast. Danica was trying -- she noticed that we were really fast and she was trying to give us a way. I don't know what the heck he was thinking. He just decided to pass everybody in one corner and he ended up taking everybody out. It's just ridiculous. He's a good driver. He's fast, but there was definitely no patience at all.
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It was very weird. There were some wet spots. I put rain tires, dry tires, rain tires. I kept on going back and forth. It was very hard to find balance. Toward the end I felt comfortable.
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The banana is good for retaining water, and the sugar brings me up. It's going to look like oatmeal when it's done, but it tastes much better.
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Close to the end, when I saw Sam coming, I tried to make a move. I tried to take advantage of the momentum, put me side by side with Dan. But it just was not enough. If we would be like NASCAR and have bumpers, I'm sure we would have won the race by now.
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Wow, I don't even know what to say. Those final ten laps were the hardest in my life. The race reminded me a lot of 2002 when I won my second Indianapolis 500 -- to be able to win the first time in a touring car is just an amazing feeling. I'm so fortunate to have had this opportunity and to have been able to compete with three wonderful drivers. We had a great team and a fantastic car. I just consider myself lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.
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Unfortunately, I think we made the wrong choice on our race setup, and the Marlboro Team Penske car had a tremendous push in Turns 3 and 4. Those corners were my biggest problem. I could barely touch the throttle going through there. The team made front wing adjustments on both of our pits stops, but it didn't really help. All considering, I'm pretty happy with a fourth-place finish.
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If this was NASCAR and we had bumpers I'd have won. I thought the finish line was a little bit ahead of me. Then they said, 'It's over.' Really? It would have been exciting, one more lap.
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It's great to finally win here in Japan.
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No, that would be a lame excuse, to be honest. He's a good driver, he's fast, but that was definitely a full-face error.
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I don't know what the heck he was thinking. He decided to pass everybody in one corner, and he ended up taking out everybody.
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The last time we were here, we were backing off and cutting back in power and you could feel it. But everybody's the same out there.
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You can't make a grave move with 60 laps to go. It's a lack of patience, ... If a guy is not in the points, he doesn't have to take your points away. He went from hero to zero -- to be in the pole position and then to make a move like he did.
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Even when I was in the lead, I was getting too close to the wall, trying to make up time. I drove like I stole it.
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We were very close many times. I don't think there were a couple of times that a hair could have even be between the wheel and my wheel. I don't think we ever touched. I tell you, I respect him a lot after this race. Not that I didn't respect him before, but he definitely drove like a champion.
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On oval (tracks) he's a rookie, but on road courses and street courses he's not. He showed that again here.
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Yeah. You know, we're not here to rub it in or make a statement. It's shows that for the past two years we've worked very hard.
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I don't know what to do anymore. I just wanted to make him earn it on the outside.
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Some drivers might be twisting their nose or don't like the idea. The way I see it, it's good for everybody.
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I can't believe it. I actually thought I had won the race. I tried very hard. Based on previous races with Dan, there was no way I was going to give him much room, but he beat me anyway. I guess it was not meant to be.
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They have to worry about finishing ahead of me. I have to just finish ahead of them. At this point of the season, you don't think what might happen or keep track of the points; you just go for it, and that is what we are planning right now.