Rinus VeeKay has been something on an enigma since his breakout IndyCar win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Dutch driver has had a rollercoaster ride of results in the three seasons he’s completed to date.
After his maiden win in 2021, just two of the remaining 10 races that season saw him crack the top 10. Most of those were well down the field.
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The 2022 season was something of a headscratcher too. He opened the season with two top 10 finishes before stunning the field with pole position at Barber Motorsports Park.
However, he couldn’t convert and ultimately ended up third overall.
What followed was a bizarre sequence akin to his 2021 season in which just three races from 13 were top 10 finishes – most seeing him between 15th and 25th.
That missed opportunity was one that VeeKey laments the most.
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He lost out on the win after McLaren’s Pato O’Ward blew by him after the pit stop sequence.
Eventually, the Hoofddorp-born driver fell to third behind Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou and finished more than 12 seconds adrift of the lead.
“It’s fuel for nightmares, definitely,” said VeeKay.
“I’ve not been as close to winning all last year and since that moment.
“We had all the ingredients to win and I didn’t make it happen when it mattered most.
“Really sucked. Also it’s a mistake I’m never going to make in the rest of my career.
“Mistakes happen for a reason. They’re good mistakes if you learn from them.
“I’m really, really sure I’m going to really not make the mistake any time any more.”
The start of the 2023 season hasn’t been much to write home about.
So far he’s had finishes of 21st, 11th, and 26th across St Petersburg, Texas, and Long Beach.
“We’re definitely not happy,” he said.
“It’s been so far disastrous in results. Definitely not where we want to be.
“We know we have pace. Long Beach wasn’t where we wanted to be. Texas, there’s still room to improve. I think we really had the pace to race there in Texas.
“In St. Petersburg, we were third, sixth in practice, something goes wrong in qualifying. At the end of the race we were fighting for sixth place again.
“I think we have all the cards on the table to do better, to get back to last year’s results. We just have been a bit unlucky.”
VeeKay is, nevertheless, optimistic about his fortunes.
A return to Barber Motorsports Park offers another opportunity to try and put it on pole position and redeem himself for the pain of last year.
“I think Barber, Indy road course, Indy 500 are those places where I can climb back up and get back to where we belong,” he said.
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