Helio Castroneves marked today in Long Beach, the 8th fastest time in Qualifying for the third race of the IZOD IndyCar Series, which takes place this Sunday at the street circuit in California. Nevertheless, the driver of Team Penske, unofficially, will start in the 18th position because of the penalty imposed on all users of the Chevrolet engines, who lost 10 positions compared to the original starting position. This occurred because the engine supplier decided to replace all V6 Turbo to avoid breaking like the one of James Hinchcliffe in Sonoma. As the replacement occurred before the minimum mileage required by regulation, which is 1850 miles, was applied to the penalty by IndyCar.

“Team Penske did a great job today with my teammates Ryan Briscoe and Will marking the pole Power closing the front row. I had a little problem of balance in the second stage of Qualifying, and I narrowly missed entering the Fast Six. the 8th best is not bad, but does not match the performance that I and my staff can develop here. The pity is that we will all be punished with the loss of 10 positions and start from further back. So, the thing is to start with caution to avoid injury and play with a strategy to circumvent this disadvantage, “said Castroneves.