Juan Pablo Montoya’s victory on the 2000 Indianapolis 500 stays one of the vital legendary debuts within the historical past of the Brickyard. Nevertheless, the Colombian not too long ago revealed that he by no means truly needed to enter the race.
Talking on the BBC Chequered Flag Podcast alongside 1996 Components 1 champion Damon Hill, the two-time Indy 500 winner mirrored on the circumstances that led him to turn into a rookie winner of the long-lasting occasion.
“I’m impressed by the Indy 500,” Hill mentioned. “That’s very cool.”
Montoya responded: “Yeah, Indy, truthfully, the primary one was actually humorous, as a result of I actually didn’t need to do it. I used to be compelled to do it.”
On the time, Montoya was extra centered on his CART championship marketing campaign.
Requested if it was out of worry, the seven-time F1 grand prix winner added: “No. Keep in mind, at the moment, the championships have been cut up, so I used to be defending the CART championship, and the automotive was breaking down each week, after which they mentioned, ‘Oh, we’re going to run this’. And I used to be like, ‘Why are we taking focus with that [Indy 500], to run that?’ And so it was form of bizarre.
Juan Pable Montoya
Photograph by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Photos
“I used to be imagined to do the rookie check. You’ve bought to do 190 miles an hour, then 195, then 200, we simply got here from Japan, and so they mentioned, ‘OK, simply exit, do a couple of warm-up laps earlier than that.’
“And so I went out, and by lap two, I used to be huge open. I used to be doing 220 and I used to be second quickest of the day. It was like, ‘Oh OK, you’re OK.'”
Montoya would go on to guide 167 of the 200 laps complete on the 2000 Indy 500, turning into the primary rookie driver to win since Damon’s father, Graham Hill, in 1966. He later claimed his second victory of the occasion in 2015.
We wish your opinion!
What would you wish to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Staff
