Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: IRL’s Kanaan not interested in returning to F1

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.

As an aspiring racecar driver growing up in Brazil, Tony Kanaan idolized Ayrton Senna, a three-time Formula One World Champion and fellow Brazilian.

Once he began driving Formula cars in Europe, Kanaan developed a friendship with Senna and was at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy -- at Senna's invitation -- when Senna died from injuries he suffered in a crash.

Although Kanaan has achieved modest success in CART and now the Indy Racing League, he said he has no desire to return to Europe and pursue a driving career in F1.

"I always was very clear with my intentions, when I came here, I had no intentions to leave and I still don't," said Kanaan, who is leading the IRL standings for Andretti Green Racing after four races. "As a racecar driver, you're always looking for the best and I think I'm in the best team right now, in one of the best series, with the best drivers out there.

"Obviously, you never know what's going to happen in the future but if I can stay here for the rest of my career, I'll be very happy. America has been great to me ... and right now I really found myself with Andretti Green Racing. You never know how long that's going to last but it feels so good right now that we hope it will last forever."

Kanaan, who had one victory in his five-year CART career, certainly seems to have found a home with Andretti Green Racing. In four races since moving to the IRL, Kanaan has one victory and two other top-five finishes -- including a third-place showing in last month's Indianapolis 500.

Kanaan holds a 14-point lead over fellow Brazilian and boyhood friend Helio Castroneves going into Saturday night's race at Texas Motor Speedway.

"I'm a little bit surprised that I am leading the championship right now," Kanaan said. "When you come to a new team, you don't know what to expect and what to have and then sometimes you say 'it's too good to be true.'

"The team was perfect from the beginning, relationship-wise, so I said, 'OK, now we need to be competitive,' so we are competitive and it's all working together. But it's a long year so we can celebrate anything right now because it's still a long way to go."

Brack established the record with a lap of 233.447 mph during qualifying that year. The race, however, was cancelled the following day because some drivers were complaining of dizziness because of the high speeds.

"That lap seems like a long time ago," Brack said. "I have had some good races at Texas but I have had some tough luck there, too.

"I have run competitively at Texas but never won there. It is a fast place and the racing is always exciting. With the level of competition in the IndyCar Series now, I expect the racing to be spectacular."

Brack spent three years in the IRL before moving to CART with team owner Bobby Rahal in 2000. After three seasons in the Champ Car series, Brack returned to the IRL this season with Rahal, who campaigns cars in both open-wheel series.

Herta is filling in for Dario Franchitti, who injured his back in a motorcycle accident in April. Herta will drive Franchitti's No. 27 Dallara/Honda at Texas and the following weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Kinser earned his 11th victory of the season and closed to within 31 points of Danny Lasoski in the WoO standings. Lasoski finished third in Saturday's main event.

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