Takuma Sato Tag

By Takuma Sato, Driver Columnist In his opening column for Motorsports Tribune, Takuma Sato discusses his Andretti Autosport debut in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and brings everyone up to speed with how he went from Formula 1 to competing in the Indianapolis 500. Debuting for Andretti Autosport It has been so exciting from the moment I joined the team. It was a long winter and off-season, but a lot of things have happened. However, from the IndyCar regulations to the time that I signed up to driveRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — What a reunion. Sebastien Bourdais came from last on the grid to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the first race since being reunited with engineer Craig Hampson – whom he won four titles with during his Champ Car days (2004-’07). An accident in qualifying left the Dale Coyne Racing driver starting last, but thanks to some excellent pit strategy and fast driving was able to drive his No. 19 Boy Scouts of America HondaRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Honda continued their dominance of Verizon IndyCar Series practice in preparation for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg by taking the top six positions on the time sheet. The No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon topped the charts with a lap of 1 minute, 01.6240 seconds (105.154 mph) ahead of James Hinchcliffe in the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’s No. 5 ARROW Honda. Third was the No. 98 NAPA Auto Parts Honda ofRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The recent manufacturer change of Chip Ganassi Racing from Chevrolet to Honda hasn’t affected their standing at the front of the field as Scott Dixon’s No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda led the second Friday practice session for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the opening round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Dixon’s lap of 1 minute 2.5591 seconds (103.582 mph) was 1.3 seconds faster than his first session time that netted him third-place inRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Age: 40 Years in IndyCar: 8 Wins: 1 Podiums: 5 Laps led: 436 2016 Team: AJ Foyt Racing 2017 Team: Andretti Autosport Takuma Sato is hitting the reset button for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Although Sato has performances of greatness in years prior, the 40-year-old from Tokyo, Japan ended last season 17th in the standings. He never reached the podium and scored two fifth place finishes at Long Beach and Toronto street circuits. Other highlights were a ninth at Mid-Ohio after starting 20th as well as good qualifying performances at theRead More

By Josh  Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Andretti Autosport and newly signed driver Takuma Sato both are looking to have the perfect marriage into the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series Season. For the Formula 1 competitor, he is joining a powerhouse team after a very hot and cold tenure at AJ Foyt Racing. Aside from a win at Long Beach in 2013 and briefly leading the series standings heading into the Indianapolis 500 that year, he has more than his fair share of bad luck. The 39-year-old Japanese driver has shown many flashes of greatness.Read More

By Josh  Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Takuma Sato will complete Andretti Autosport’s four-car lineup for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The Japanese driver will drive the No. 26 Honda in an effective driver swap with Carlos Munoz, who takes Sato’s spot at AJ Foyt Racing. Sato feels that the depth Andretti Autosport and the multiple engineering changes the team made in the offseason make it the ideal choice for him as he starts the next chapter of his career. “I am extremely excited that we were able to work out aRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Another IndyCar silly season domino has dropped as Takuma Sato has reportedly signed with Andretti Autosport for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Motorsport.com reported today that Sato will drive the No. 26 Honda, replacing Carlos Munoz alongside Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi and Marco Andretti. Sato’s move comes after spending four seasons with AJ Foyt Racing, where he scored a lone win at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2013 but has finished no better than 14th in the standings since then. It will beRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer 2015 and 2016 haven’t been the best of years for A.J. Foyt’s team. The Texas-based squad with drivers Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth have had less than ideal results, with Sato having three top five finishes over the last two seasons while Hawksworth’s best finishes were a pair of sevenths at Detroit last year. The team has decided to make some changes after this past season. They will be switching to Chevrolet in 2017 following the announcement that Chip Ganassi RacingRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor LONG BEACH, Calif. – Simon Pagenaud claimed his first win in nearly two years and his first for Team Penske under a bit of controversy. Pagenaud’s didn’t take the lead until lap 54, but his march to the front started at the very beginning as he muscled past Scott Dixon on the first lap to move into second place behind teammate Helio Castroneves who dominated the opening stint of the race. Dixon ran around 1.5s in arrears to Castroneves and ended upRead More