Written by Archie O’Reilly, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Helio Castroneves will be replaced by Tom Blomqvist at Meyer Shank Racing in IndyCar in 2024, the team have confirmed.
Blomqvist, 29, won the IMSA SportsCar Championship in his first season for Meyer Shank Racing in 2022, and has won the Daytona 24 Hours in both his seasons with the team. He has taken 19 class wins in 28 IMSA races, and has also competed 14 times in the much-famed World Endurance Championship (WEC).
The British-born driver was an esteemed single-seater driver in the junior ranks, most notably finishing second to Esteban Ocon in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2014, and more notably, ahead of two-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen.
Blomqvist wouldn’t be entering IndyCar without prior high-level open-wheel experience, either, having competed in six and two races in 2017 and 2019 respectively in Formula E, with a best finish of eighth, before completing the season in 2020, scoring only six points for a struggling NIO 333 outfit.
In the absence of Simon Pagenaud, Blomqvist made an encouraging IndyCar debut in a one-off drive for the team, in the No.60 car in Toronto last month, qualifying a creditable 20th-place in tough conditions. His race unfortunately ended early on, after being caught up in an incident in the opening corners.
On the other side of the deal, Castroneves is set to step away from full-time IndyCar racing, having debuted in the series in its current form over 22 years ago. Since then, he has picked up 25 victories, and amassed 84 podiums in 308 races. He spent 20 years of his career at Team Penske, before making the switch to drive for Meyer Shank Racing midway through 2021.
The Brazilian’s results have failed to catch the eye, since his full-time return to IndyCar in 2022, after five part-time years, finishing 18th in the championship last year, and dwindling two places lower with four races remaining in 2023.
The four-time Indianapolis 500 winner is set to be a feature during the Month of May as a third entry for the team next year. He also joins the team's ownership group as a minority partner.
Castroneves is likely to fill the void left by Blomqvist for Meyer Shank Racing in IMSA, where he does have experience, including being a part of the consecutive Daytona 24 Hours-winning Meyer Shank Racing team, of which Blomqvist was a part too. He completed near-full IMSA schedules in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and across a total of 36 races, he has taken 24 class wins.
Now 48 years old, Castroneves will inevitably be trying to wind down on his racing career, so a 17-race IndyCar calendar doesn’t make as much sense as it once did. Still one of the great characters the series has to offer, he will be a big miss around the sport. In his place though, comes an exciting talent, and another opportunity for a driver to move from a different discipline.
Comments