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Even the Abu Dhabi Auto Racing League

Juncos Hollinger IndyCar Team Agustin Canapino’s absence from last weekend’s Road America round was only described as a temporary “leave of absence” amid the escalating situation around social media abuse and threats sent by some of his fanbase to McLaren’s Theo Pourchaire following the Detroit crash.

But it was clear that Juncos felt the need to announce on Wednesday that Canabino will definitely be back for the next round at Laguna Seca and will continue the entire season from there, with The Race aware that there are growing questions about whether he will actually do so.

The return of Cannabino has come with a very clear change in tone as well.

It was ironic enough that Porchier would receive such threats over a move that, while certainly clumsy, was relatively innocuous by IndyCar street racing standards and probably wouldn’t have been among the top five worst of the chaotic afternoon in Detroit .

The joint statement from Juncos and McLaren condemning him might have been the end of the matter, had Canabino not expressed his anger at what he saw as an “outrageous” and unfounded accusation against his fanbase, adding that he had not seen anything he said that would Interpreted as a death threat.

It was this intervention that built up the buzz to the point where Canabino and the team made a last-minute decision for him to exit the car for Road America for the sake of his mental health – team communications director David O’Neill told racer It was made when he saw how Cannabino was appearing at a signing session before the event. By then, McLaren had ended its partnership with Juncos and there were suggestions that this could eventually lead to a split between team owners Brad Hollinger and Ricardo Juncos as well.

Cannabino’s video statement confirming his return to Laguna took a very different stance on how he handled the abuse in the aftermath of Detroit.

“I will reiterate, as I have said clearly before, to all fans around the world, that we need to be aware of the damage that insult or aggression on social media can cause, no matter where it comes from,” he said.

“I insist that we learn and work together to build a better society.”

He expanded on his broader thinking behind this in an interview with racerin which Canabino argued that in the sporting culture of his native Argentina, abuse like the one Bourchier received is casually dismissed by competitors as an emotional outburst with no real harmful intent.

These cultural differences were discussed in a meeting between Canabino and the team on Monday, where progress was made on both sides as teammates gained a better understanding of why Canabino reacted as he did and Canabino admitted he couldn’t keep doing that now he was racing in America.

“We’re in American racing, of course, but we have international drivers who have different types of fans and different types of cultures,” Canapino told Racer.

“So the good lesson for me is the way to respond and the way to understand the situation. We need to work together, and try to avoid this situation again. I am here in America, and I have to improve my way of seeing the situations happening here. We need to stop and avoid the abuse and hate.” On social media.

If he can stick to that and the relevant section of his fanbase responds to the message, Cannabinos and Juncos have a chance to refocus back on what should actually be a great against-the-odds sports story, rather than an unpleasant one. The reaction to the Pourchaire incident and similar points of tension in the fanbase around Canabino’s 2023 teammate Callum Ilott has soured and overshadowed what was actually happening on track.

It’s so easy to forget that what Cannabino did in IndyCar was so cool. For a driver in his 30s with a background entirely in Argentine motor racing, to make such a respectable impression in such a competitive international single-seater series from the start, with an underdog team, is remarkable.

And it wasn’t just that Cannabino’s leadership was overshadowed by the off-track situation that allowed him to develop. His new teammate Romain Grosjean had a very strong race to finish seventh for the Juncos at Road America, as a driver-team relationship that initially looked on paper like it might be very combustible showed that it might pay off nicely.

Canapino’s tune-up, the efforts being made to get the situation back under control, and the fact that he will almost certainly complete the season are all welcome things. There could have been some form of apology for his role in inflaming the situation so far, but the most important thing here is to stop the repetition. This means that the centerpiece of his IndyCar story should now be able to get back to what he already achieves in the car.

Given his pedigree, Cannabino will want more from his IndyCar tenure than the results he has achieved thus far. His fanbase will want more too, and they’re clearly backing him to make it happen.

But any form of sustainable IndyCar future will come with more friction, more on-track sharpness, and, given recent performance in IndyCar, more off-track sniping.

That’s part and parcel of life in a competitive series like this. But that means that the next time anything catches fire — and there will be a next time — it’s up to Cannabino and its fanbase to show the lessons have already been learned.