Detroit, Mich. (31 May 2022) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) will be making a final double-duty visit to Belle Isle Park on June 3-5 for the Detroit Grand Prix, a combined NTT INDYCAR SERIES and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekend.
This will be the final event at the 14-turn, 2.3-mile temporary track, located on an island in the Detroit River between the U.S. and Canada. The venue has hosted competition since 1992, when it replaced a downtown track that debuted with a Formula 1 race in 1982. For 2023, both series will race on a new course as competition returns to downtown Motor City.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Castroneves, Pagenaud Both Winners at Detroit
Driver Lineup:
Helio Castroneves: No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda
Simon Pagenaud: No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda;
Tune in:
Saturday, June 5, USA/Peacock (3:00pm ET)
SiriusXM Ch. 205
Only one week following the Indianapolis 500 which saw MSR finished seventh and eighth, the team will take to the streets in Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix.
Both Meyer Shank Racing drivers have enjoyed success in the past at the venue. Castroneves competed in 17 races in Detroit between his time in IndyCar and Champ Car. Castroneves claimed his first-ever IndyCar victory at Belle Isle in 2000. Castroneves also originated the fence climb victory celebration following his 2000 Detroit win.
Castroneves went on to win in 2001 and 2014 as well as collecting poles in 2007 and 2014. His last appearance was 2017, when he finished seventh and ninth in the double-header IndyCar weekend.
Pagenaud raced at Belle Isle 17 times from 2012 through 2021 and won his very first INDYCAR race at Belle Isle in 2013. In addition, he has four podium finishes in Detroit. He also captured poles for both of the 2016 races.
MSR ran its No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda in the 2021 Detroit Grand Prix. Jack Harvey finished 16th in the opening race, but lost time with punctures after being hit by opponents in the Sunday round, finishing 23rd.
Driver Quotes:
Helio Castroneves:
“Detroit brings me a lot of memories, that’s where the fence climb started. I raced for so many years with Roger (Penske) and made friends as well. It’ll be great to do the last race on Belle Isle before we move to racing downtown next year. I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully climbing the fence again.”
Simon Pagenaud:
“I’m getting ready for Detroit, which is a very important place to me. It’s where I won my first INDYCAR race in the past. We’re going with Meyer Shank Racing and for the last year at Belle Isle as we go next year to the streets of downtown Detroit. Meanwhile, the goal is to go and win that race. We have an awesome race car for the street course, so we’re hoping we can go and get that top spot for the last one at Belle Isle.”
Meyer Shank Racing takes back-to-back second-place finishes to Belle Isle
Driver Lineup:
Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis: No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Acura ARX-05 DPi
Tune In:
Saturday, June 4, 2022 on USA Network and Peacock (3:00 p.m. ET)
SiriusXM Ch. 202
MSR remains in the thick of the battle for the IMSA DPi championship, trailing the leaders by only 32 points on the strength of back-to-back second-place finishes at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio. The team opened the season by winning the 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona, joined by Castroneves and Pagenaud. The team placed fifth in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and then saw a potential podium finish slip away in the final two minutes with a fourth-place finish at Long Beach.
MSR is a two-time winner at Belle Isle, taking GTD honors in 2017 and 2018. The 2017 win was the very first victory for the Acura NSX GT3 in North America.
Jarvis raced in three WeatherTech Championship events at Belle Isle from 2018-2021, finishing fourth in last year’s event. The Detroit weekend will be Blomqvist’s first race in Detroit – and is the only venue on the IMSA calendar that he has not raced at.
Driver Quotes:
Oliver Jarvis:
“We’re coming off the back of some pretty strong results, but we know Detroit is a track that probably favors the Cadillacs a bit more. But we were strong in Long Beach so we know we have a solid car on street courses. If we can work it out between now and then, hopefully we can close that gap in the championship. It’s important to maximize our points and close that gap to the 10 car.”
Tom Blomqvist:
“Detroit is another street track, another set of challenges compared to the last two events. I think we need to look back at how we performed at Long Beach. It will be a bit of a tough weekend for us as Detroit is a track that is more suited to the Cadillacs. But nonetheless we showed a lot of promise in Long Beach and hopefully we can carry that direction into Detroit. I’m looking forward to it – it’s actually the only track on the calendar that I don’t know. So I’ll need to get my bearings and get up to speed a bit more quickly, and it’s not an easy track, it’s actually quite challenging. But I know we’ll go into the weekend as we always do and hopefully we’ll have another good result.”
