Helio Castroneves | My big break

Motor Sport magazine

Helio Castroneves says that destiny guided his glittering IndyCar career that's crowned by a record-equalling four Indy 500 wins, but the path to glory was far from straightforward. He speaks to Chris Medland in the opening episode from season two of our Big Break podcast series, charting the make-or-break moments that shaped top-level racers, engineers and managers. Ahead of this year's Indy 500, Castroneves recalls his early dreams of racing in Formula 1, graduating from karting in Brazil to living in Milton Keynes in British F3, and then the conversation with his sponsor that brought him to the unfamiliar ladder to IndyCar. That journey was studded with challenge, tragedy and a court case with Emerson Fittipaldi — plus a 14-week run to victory on Dancing with the Stars, that is credited with bringing an extra 1m viewers to IndyCar. Now in search of a record-equalling fifth Indy 500 win, Castroneves says that the sky's the limit, with no thoughts of retirement. When we’re in this business [of racing], it’s our life, it’s what we do, it’s the air that I breathe," he says.