Toronto, ON (July 15, 2018) – It wasn’t an easy race by any means with a difficult track and hot temperatures, but Dale Coyne Racing’s Zachary Claman De Melo moved up nine positions in the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday to take the checkered flag in 14th place aboard his #19 Paysafe car in his home country of Canada.
After struggling throughout the weekend in practice, Claman De Melo progressed nicely over the course of the 85-lap race on the streets of Toronto. Starting from the 23rd and final position, the rookie gained positions during his first stint, pitting from 20th on Lap 13. He then took advantage of numerous yellows for different incidents during his second stint which helped him further climb up the field.
However, after moving into the top 10, the rookie was challenged on the restarts and had fallen to 16th by the time he entered pit lane on Lap 51 for his second stop. Claman De Melo exited the pits in 17th place and managed to pick up another three positions by the time he crossed the finish line on Lap 85 to finish 14th, his second best result this season.
“It was a fun race, we had quite a bit of yellow today and I think that helped us with our pit strategy,” shared Claman De Melo. “I let the race come to us, and I didn’t take any unnecessary chances in my #19 Paysafe car. A lot of people had different issues and I stayed out of trouble and it led to a decent finish. It’s been a fun season and I want to thank Dale Coyne Racing and Paysafe for giving me the opportunity to do these nine races with them this year. Now I get to cheer on Pietro (Fittipaldi) when he comes back for the next race.”
The Dale Coyne Racing team will be back in action in two weeks at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Honda Indy 200. Rookie Pietro Fittipaldi will be back behind the wheel of the #19 Paysafe car for the 13th round of the Verizon IndyCar Series season.
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