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Castroneves apologises for outburst

Helio Castroneves has apologised for his furious outburst at IndyCar officials after being stripped of victory at Edmonton on Sunday

The Penske driver won the race on the road, but was penalised for blocking team-mate Will Power at the restart after the final caution period with three laps to go.

Officials gave Castroneves a drive-through with two laps to go, but he did not take it before the finish. He was not shown the chequered flag at the end of the final lap and was later given a time penalty which pushed him down to 10th, handing the win to Scott Dixon - who had taken second when Power was pushed wide by Castroneves.

Immediately after climbing out of his car at the end of the race, Castroneves confronted and blasted IRL technical director Kevin Blanch, the flag man at the finishing post and grabbed IRL security director Charles Burns by the collar while he was remonstrating.

When interviewed shortly after the race, Castroneves was still critical of the decision: "It's just ridiculous. I never moved my line. I actually did move him outside. When you go side by side like that with your team-mate and they just take it away from you, it's just absurd."

But he later apologised for his reaction and issued the following statement: "Obviously, I disagree with the decisions made by the race officials on the last restart in today's race, but there is no excuse for my actions after the checkered flag.

"I apologise to my team, our sponsors, the fans and the entire IZOD IndyCar Series community for my behavior. My actions were totally wrong and I acted inappropriately to some people who are my friends and people I respect very much.

"Obviously, I am a very emotional person and today I let my emotions get the better of me and I'm very sorry for that."

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