IndyCar 2024: Canapino flies on the asphalt of St. Petersburg but tries hard in corners and finishes 18th

The 2024 season has begun IndyCar with Agostino Canapino trying to establish itself in the category and confirming the good things it had shown last year, aboard the car Ricardo Juncos Racing. In a race that left ambiguous feelings in his team, the Argentine completed 100 laps of the race St. Petersburg GP and finished in 18th place, while his teammate, the former F1 driver, Romain Grosjeanhe had to abandon after starting fifth on the grid.

The Titan began his year United States of America in good form, leaving a better image on Sunday than the one he managed to show in qualifying, when he finished 20th. The Argentine champion loves to show his pace in the race, fight and look for positions, even on this complicated street circuit, partly ridden Landing strip from Albert Whitted Airport.

Canapa’s dizziness allowed him to stay in the race when three quarters of the race had already passed and the one from Arrecifes was trying to enter the top ten. The on-board camera of the Argentinian’s car 78 clearly shows why this category is considered one of the most difficult in motorsports.

IndyCar is so complicated that everything can change in a matter of seconds: when he was at his best, Canapino accelerated too much at the end of a straight and went too far to lose precious seconds and finish 20th.

A camera records the Argentine driver’s failed maneuver, where he seemed to lose grip in the braking zone, due to the marks on the asphalt. In front of him was none other than Callum Iliotthis former partner in 2023.

The sequence occurred just as Grosjean stopped his car in the pits to conclude his race. The Frenchman paid dearly for a penalty which forced him to make a “stop and go”, losing his chances of fighting for the top positions, ending up fading at the end of the race. Canapino, for his part, did not get carried away by the frustration of racing from behind and fought until the checkered flag, finishing 18th.

The race had a winner, of course. It was the American Joseph Newgarden, who started from pole and was the leader in 92 of the 100 laps, finishing with a landslide victory, trailing Pato O’Ward, his guard, by more than 8 seconds. The next IndyCar event will be on March 24, in the event called The Thermal Club’s $1 Million Challengea competition that doesn’t give out points but awards a juicy prize of one million dollars.