Takuma Sato Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Saturday that Takuma Sato will stay with the team in 2020. Sato’s 2019 season has no doubt been his strongest of his 10-year NTT IndyCar Series career, scoring wins at Barber Motorsports Park and World Wide Technology Raceway, the most he’s won in a season. In addition to his victories, he has two more podiums to his name and led the field to the green flag twice at Barber and Texas Motor Speedway, which has played an intricateRead More

By INDYCAR MADISON, Ill. — NTT IndyCar Series driver Takuma Sato hasn’t had many weeks as wild as this past one. Sato qualified fifth for Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway, dropped to last place after opening-lap contact with other cars in Turn 1 and battled back to win in the closest finish in this track’s 10-year history – 0.0399 seconds over Ed Carpenter. The victory came six days after being the center of attention for his role in the first-lap, multi-car accident at Pocono Raceway thatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MADISON, Ill. — Just 0.0399 of a second was all the difference Takuma Sato denied Ed Carpenter from scoring his first NTT IndyCar Series triumph in over five years at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. “It could have been a little better if we had a little bit longer straightaway or another lap,” Carpenter on losing by a small margin. “But it was nice to finish on a high note, especially after the day we had yesterday.” Carpenter’s No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet had an entireRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer MADISON, Ill. — Countless hours of examination by racing fans, drivers and other experts on Twitter on last week’s opening lap accident at Pocono Raceway can be a drain on anybody but no longer for Takuma Sato. “The important thing is to understand what happened, the facts and try to make it how we can improve, that’s the most important thing,” said Sato. “Obviously we did not want to see that happen, but it happened, whatever the reason I think the important thing is that we’veRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor MADISON, Ill. – Josef Newgarden’s hot streak entering the weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway keeps on rolling as the championship points leader in the NTT IndyCar Series will start from pole for Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500. Rolling off last in the qualifying order, Newgarden laid down a two-lap average of 186.508 mph, knocking Sebastien Bourdais off the provisional pole and taking it for himself. The pole is his second straight and third of the 2019 season. Newgarden is no stranger to successRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Sunday’s opening lap fiasco is still in the minds of everyone around the NTT IndyCar Series paddock. A five-car crash in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway has had several people angry towards Takuma Sato, wishing he should face a penalty from INDYCAR Race Control for his driving style being too aggressive. Not only that, they’ve been extremely vocal about removing the 2.5-mile circuit from the calendar with both the death of Justin Wilson in 2015 and Robert Wickens’ season-ending crash from a year agoRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Horrific carnage has struck again at Pocono Raceway. This time it was the opening lap of Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 as jockeying for position at the Long Pond Straight went completely wrong as five drivers were collected in the Turn 2 accident. The five guys were Takuma Sato, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Felix Rosenqvist, James Hinchcliffe and championship contender Alexander Rossi. Rossi, who started second after the field was formatted by points due to Saturday’s qualifying session being washed out, had a tough start and saw himself battlingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer A set of circumstances that probably has not happened before in Indy car racing history should not be what defines everybody’s memory of the Honda Indy 200. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is 2.258 miles of hilly, crazy pavement with few passing opportunities. Scott Dixon’s red alternate sidewall tires began to wear off as the race concluded, allowing several cars one lap down to queue up behind the five-time (and defending) series champion. They were all as fast, if not faster, than the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Swearing on the radio, an exasperated Felix Rosenqvist was doing everything in his power to get lapped traffic away from the lead battle as Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 was drawing to a rapid close. Try as he might, the Swedish sensation was unable to overcome his deficit to teammate Scott Dixon and finished second by only .00934 seconds after 90 laps, the closest Indy car racing finish at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Rosenqvist had to play catch up to Dixon after making threeRead More