News

 THE RACE

IZOD IndyCar Series Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 – Sunday, May 5, 2013

No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet
No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet

THE BROADCAST

Race: Sao Paulo Indy 300
Track: Streets of Sao Paulo - 2.536-mile street circuit   

Qualifying: Saturday - 1:35 pm ET
(Broadcast at 1:00 am ET Sunday on NBCSN)    

Race: Sunday - 11:00 am ET (NBCSN)     
Radio Broadcast:  IMS Radio 1250 WHNZ-AM/SiriusXM 211

THE NEWS AND NOTES

· THE REIGN CONTINUES: Castroneves returns home to Brazil with a six-point lead in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings, marking the second consecutive event he has entered the weekend as the championship leader.

· THREE OF A KIND: After recording one 10th place and two podium finishes through three races, Castroneves is one of only three drivers that has finished inside the top 10 in every race this season.

· BITTERSWEET WELCOME: The hometown Sao Paulo circuit has not been kind to Castroneves as his fourth-place result in 2012 is his only top-five finish in three races at the venue. He managed to post another top-10 finish in the inaugural race in 2010 and in 2011 he enjoyed his best starting position of seventh.

THE Q & A

ON RACING IN BRAZIL

“Obviously it is very special to return to your home to race. There is certainly some more pressure that comes with it because I really want to do well for them and hopefully we can get the Hitachi car out front to give the fans something to cheer about.”

IF LEADING THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFFECTS HIS RACE MINDSET 

“It doesn’t change our mindset because we’ve focused from the beginning on achieving consistent top-five results and that is exactly what we need to do to stay in the lead. It is still early in the season so lots of things can happen, but we will stay focused on finishing consistently.”

WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO GET TEAM PENSKE ITS FIRST WIN IN 2013 

“We have had good cars, just little things here and there that didn’t go our way. It takes a lot of small things to win a race. We were so close in St. Pete to getting the win; I think it will all come together soon. ”
   

THE NEWS AND NOTES   

· SAO PAULO SUPREMACY: Power has dominated the South American street circuit, winning all three IndyCar races at Sao Paulo, including wins from the pole in 2011 and 2012. Last year’s win was especially dominant as he led all 75 laps of the race.

· UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW: In the three years of racing in Sao Paulo, Power has led 99 of 191 possible laps (52%) and through the three races of 2013 the Australian driver is tied for the most times leading a race with four.

· POLE MAN: Should Power extend his streak of pole positions at Sao Paulo to four this weekend, he would move into a tie with Sebastien Bourdais for seventh all-time with 31 career starts from the pole.

THE Q & A

WHY HE IS THE ONLY WINNER AT SAO PAULO

“We’ve been lucky to have some really good runs there. The Verizon guys have had the car ready to perform at peak level in mixed weather conditions which is a credit to them. It’s all about qualifying well there and I think the length of the track has served as a big benefit for us as well.”

ON WHAT HE EXPECTS OUT OF CHEVROLET THIS WEEKEND

“I know the Chevrolet team has been working really hard to give us great engines and Brazil is going to be really telling of who has the best engine going right now. The circuit really tests the driver and car.”

ON THE CURRENT MINDSET OF THE TEAM

“We are focused on what we need to do to give the best possible effort each race. You can’t control everything that goes on during the race and we want to be consistent in performing the best we can.”