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Van Kalmthout is very disappointed: "My biggest nightmare happened"

24 August 2020 at 06:28
Last update 24 August 2020 at 11:46
  • GPblog.com

Rinus Veekay was working on a solid debut in the Indy500, but during his second pit stop things went wrong. The 19-year old Dutchman made a crucial mistake, which meant he could only finish P20. Van Kalmthout is very disappointed.

"Of course everything was new to me, and I didn’t want to take too much risk at the start," Van Kalmthout explains after the race. "We were running third. The team was doing an amazing job. The second pit stop, I came into the box and just hit the brakes a little too hard. I locked up my inside front, and my biggest nightmare happened."

Van Kalmthout takes all the blame

Veekay hit some of the pit crew guys. "They work for me day and night, so I feel terrible. I'll make sure I apologize to everyone. I made a mistake, and it was a big mistake. The pit stops is something I'm not very familiar with yet, but that's no excuse."

Ed Carpenter Racing's car was very competitive, so Van Kalmthout might really have been able to compete for the prizes on Sunday "We had a great car. It got better and better, and I was able to pass cars on the inside and the outside. I learned a lot, but not fully in a good way. I just want to thank the team for giving me such an amazing car, but I threw the race away", he concludes.