Takuma Sato Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Expect the unexpected. This year has seen a massive improvement from Honda as they have won five out of eight races and heading into a newly-reconfigured Texas Motor Speedway, the Verizon IndyCar Series had no idea what to expect into Saturday’s Rainguard Water Sealers 600. Well, looking at the practice and qualifying recaps, it was a complete tossup until final practice. In the first practice session, Honda had the top six times as Scott Dixon led Charlie Kimball, Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal,Read More

By Takuma Sato, Driver Columnist In his fifth column for Motorsports Tribune, Takuma Sato takes us inside the cockpit on how he won the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500, the second consecutive for Andretti Autosport. He also carried that momentum into the Detroit doubleheader with two solid top five finishes and now sits third in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings as they ready for this weekend’s race at Texas. The Final Run to Victory It’s all about timing and it worked out perfectly. There was 22 laps to goRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer This coming weekend the Verizon IndyCar Series will return to the Texas Motor Speedway for the Rainguard Water Sealers 600, continuing the 2017 season. The race will be held on Saturday evening under the lights. The event is slated for June 9-10, 2017. About the Race The Rainguard Water Sealers 600 is round nine of seventeen for the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2017. The event is held on a paved oval track, one of six such races on the calendar. The defending race winner isRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In Friday practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series’ Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit doubleheader weekend, Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves were all alone at the top of the time sheet as both drivers were fastest in each of the two practice sessions. Not only that, but they were second fastest in the session where they weren’t fastest. In opening practice, Rahal went around the 2.35 mile Belle Isle street circuit with a time of 1 min 15.3328 seconds while Castroneves was justRead More

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — After a topsy-turvy race that saw two of his teammates eliminated before the finish and himself a lap down early, Max Chilton led the most laps en route to a fourth place finish at the 101st Indianapolis 500. Chilton was a lap down right before the savage incident that eliminated teammate and pole sitter Scott Dixon but was able to get back onto the lead lap when the lead lap cars pitted. The former F1 driver managed to grab theRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Month of May 2017 has now come and gone. Andretti Autosport’s Takuma Sato will see his image added to the Borg-Warner Trophy after coming home victorious in the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Let’s take a look back at some of the highlights. 1 ) A Popular Win  Sometimes you hear the saying, “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” and that holds true in this case. Sato is certainly one of the nicest guys in the paddock, despite thatRead More

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Chip Ganassi Racing’s Tony Kanaan had one of the more interesting races of guys who finished in the top five during the 101st Indianapolis 500. Kanaan led 22 laps early, hit debris in an accident, and had two teammates retire. But the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner managed to come home fifth despite the challenges he faced. “I think we did okay. We had a damaged car, Kanaan said. “After one of the crashes I ran over some of the debrisRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Five years ago, Takuma Sato saw victory at the Indianapolis 500 slip through his grasp. Today, the driver who lives by the motto “no attack, no chance” took hold of opportunity and never let go. Sato won the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil by 0.2011 of a second over three-time winner Helio Castroneves. It is Sato’s second Verizon IndyCar Series win — the other coming at Long Beach in 2013 — and goes down as the sixth-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history. “UnbelievableRead More

By Takuma Sato, Driver Columnist In his fourth column for Motorsports Tribune, Takuma Sato highlights some of his favorite memories of the Indianapolis 500 as he prepares for his eighth start, first with the defending champions, Andretti Autosport. He also gives an update on how two-time Formula One champion-turned-teammate Fernando Alonso is acclimating to the Verizon IndyCar Series in his one-off run at “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The Indianapolis 500 means a lot to me, as I am sure it does to a lot of people. I’ve learned that as youRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Scott Dixon had two more cars to sweat out after turning in a four lap qualifying average of 232.164 mph for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500. Dixon had qualified on the provisional pole but the two cars that topped him in Saturday’s first round of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 were still to come. Takuma Sato went to the plate and fired off some heart-stopping moments during his ten mile journey around the Indianapolis 500 but hisRead More