Hélio Castroneves Talks Racing, Watches, And His New Super Car Club

On the occasion of the Miami Concours, we sat down with the legendary Brazilian racing driver Hélio Castroneves. Growing up in Indiana Castroneves was a household name, and rightly so! Having won at Indy three times and placing second three times, he is a master of the track, but also a wizard behind the wheel of pretty much anything he drives. 
 

Castroneves is currently competing full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech series for Team Penske, his racing home since 2001. We last saw him on track at Daytona for the Rolex 24 where he placed third overall in the DPi class. In addition to endurance racing, he still races a partial season in IndyCar, the series which he’s found the most success.
 

To learn more about The Concours Club, we had the chance to interview Hélio Castroneves during Watches & Wonders. What followed was a lengthy discussion about his participation in The Concours Club and his career on the track.

Josh Shanks: Hélio! A pleasure to meet you! We're here today at the Miami Concours, surrounded by beautiful cars, it's the perfect moment to talk about what you're doing with The Concours Club.

Hélio Castroneves: Hey! First of all, The Concours Club is an excellent group of people. I'm very happy and honored to join Neil, Melissa, and the entire team. People sometimes have different visions for a Concours club. But here's we've decided to upscale the concept into something luxurious. If you love cars as I do, this is going to be the places for you.
 

JS: I grew up in Indiana, so I'm a car racing nut!

HC: Well Josh, not many people have the same passion we do. So, it’s nice to have something different for those people that might not be as amused by cars all the time. The Concours Club is a place to relax, a place to eat, go to the spa, the pool, and more. I feel that it's perfect, especially with the weather that we have here (in Miami) it’s not like Indiana [Laughs]. And I think that this concept, it's just perfect. Plus, Miami definitely translates to exotic cars, incredible fashion, and it's a sexy town. And race cars are sexy toys, so this concept can connect all of them together.
 

JS: Can you tell us a little bit about the track itself?

HC: Yes. We just finished building it actually! Alan [Wilson] is one of the guys that designed the track, and he's a very well-known person for designing race tracks. He saw the space, and it's not like a Spa or Silverstone, it's very limited because we're talking about expensive real estate in the area. However, it's just right beside the airport, so they were able to be very creative with the track. It's enough to get up to 140MPH which I think is pretty good, but there are a lot of twisty corners, which I like, especially for some of those who don’t have experience. 
 

JS: The club isn’t just about racing though, there’s a fun element.

HC: Yes! You don’t want to have just a club. This should be about having fun, as I see it because I love race cars. But, at the same time, I compete for a living. I don't want to go to a place and feel kind of terrible, like "Why am I doing this?" So, I want everybody to have fun and enjoy. It's not about going head-to-head or win or setting the best lap. At the same time, it’s still a very well done track, and we're talking about a 40 feet wide FIA concept (similar to F1 tracks). We go to places that are like street courses with the size of their tracks. So, I like The Concours Club because of the space and safety.
 

JS: Is this a concept you see evolving? Certainly starting in Miami, but expanding to other markets?

HC: Potentially! I believe in the first concept, in Miami. But yes, The Concours Club could be in other places. Not just here in America, but it can be all over the world. But you’ve got to find the right recipe, because, remember when you talk about clubs, country clubs, a lot of people don't believe it's going to happen. This one is here already, it’s soon open, and it’s pretty cool!
 

JS: So, let's talk racing. I was just in Daytona for the Rolex 24. I saw you there actually. But now 100 days away from the Indy 500, for your career, what are you looking forward to this year?

HC: I just finished a test at Circuit of the Americas in Austin (COTA). It's a fantastic track. I’d never been there.
 

JS: It’ll be good to see IndyCars in that track.

HC: It'll be very tricky, challenging. But I love it. You can take me out of a full-time IndyCar season, but you can never take the IndyCar from me. It was cool to go back and see everyone. I'm excited to go back. This is preparation for Indy of course. I want to run (in IndyCar) as much as I can, so when I get to COTA, even though it’s a road course, nothing to do with Indy, but you have the rhythm, you know the buttons, you know the communications. It helps to know what things to do with the car so that I can translate to the engineers. So, this is very thorough preparation, so that when I get there (to Indy), it's not like I'm just jumping into the first race. I want to be prepared, knowing everything I’ve got to do. And the good news is, with this year’s schedule, there isn’t another oval before Indy.