Arrow McLaren Racing has ended its strategic alliance with Juncos Hollinger Racing over online abuse Theo Pourchaire was subject to following the IndyCar Grand Prix of Detroit over the weekend.
Some background: Pourchaire, of Arrow McLaren, and Agustín Canapino of Juncos Hollinger, were involved in an incident on Lap 60 of the race. Canapino was running sixth when he effectively was speared by Pourchaire running ninth in the Turn 3 braking zone.
Both drivers continued to finish in the top-10.
Pourchaire says he was the subject of online harassment and death threats from fans of Canapino – a concerning trend from the latter. Canapino had a pair of run-ins with then-teammate Callum Ilott at Long Beach and Laguna Seca last year and the fans responded with hateful rhetoric.
Juncos Hollinger was perceived as taking too much time to acknowledge the hateful tweets and it contributed to Ilott’s departure from the organization.
On Monday evening, Arrow McLaren issued a joint statement over the Pourchaire incident:
“Social media allows us to engage with our fans around the world, but it is important that we interact with each other in a respectful and safe environment. We will not tolerate any form of abuse or discrimination, and those participating in such actions are not welcome in our online community and will be blocked…It is vital that we collectively maintain a safe and welcoming community for all involved.”
It’s worth noting that Juncos Hollinger only retweeted the statement from the McLaren account.
As was the case last fall, Juncos Hollinger waited until Tuesday, two and a half days after the race, to issue a statement from its own account that read, “abuse, hatred and harassment in any form is unacceptable. It is not tolerated within the Juncos Hollinger Racing community and is not representative of who we are as a team. We are working with those affected to identify the individuals responsible, and any violators of this policy will be blocked from the Juncos Hollinger Racing community.”
In between the statements, Canapino released a statement that minimized his fans’ rhetoric.
“We Argentines are passionate and euphoric, but that doesn’t mean we should be accused of something we are not,” Canapino’s statement read. “Therefore, I strongly reject being generalized and placed in a category we don’t deserve.
“I have not seen a single death threat directed at those who claim to have received them…No one in their right mind would do such a thing. It’s outrageous to be accused of this so lightly, and I won’t allow it anymore…
“I constantly receive abuse and hate, and I have learned to live with it, as many people do, choosing to ignore it. There’s nothing sadder and more miserable than hiding behind social media to insult others.”
Canapino also ‘liked’ a quote retweet of his statement from ESPN Latin America IndyCar commentator Martin Ponte that referred to the situation as ‘Callum Pourchaire.’ Canapino also liked several other tweets that suggested the whole incident was funny in some cases and not real in the others.
Thus, come Thursday morning McLaren made the decision to end the relationship with Juncos Hollinger that allowed the former to place excess sponsorship on latter’s cars:
“This decision follows actions that occurred earlier this week on social media in regards to an on-track incident at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. As reflected in the team’s social media community code, Arrow McLaren will not tolerate any form of abuse or discrimination and totally condemns the online abuse directed toward our team and driver.”
Effectively, McLaren views Canapio as not taking seriously the messaging from both teams over any online hate and opted to end the relationship to avoid having any affiliation with him whatsoever.
Juncos also issued a statement:
“We appreciate the time spent with McLaren over past months. They are a world class organization which we enjoy competing against week in and week out. While the results of the partnership did not mature, we have the upmost respect for them and are confident in the future of Juncos Hollinger Racing.”
Canapino, speaking to Argentinian motorsports TV network Carburando, is showing no remorse and even wanted Juncos Hollinger to recant the statement.
The network says that Canapino claims there were only a ‘couple of messages from accounts of strangers and without followers’ that targeted Pourchaire.
Christian Gonzalez Rouco of Carburando says ‘What Agustin strongly asks is that both McLaren and (Theo) Pourchaire retract everything they said what they accused him and the Argentines of, because he is not willing to tolerate this level of discrimination.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.