By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
It was five years ago this August when Takuma Sato won his second Indianapolis 500 in front of empty grandstands due the COVID pandemic that also forced the race to be held outside of May.
Fast forward to this year, Sato is more determined than ever of scoring his third 500 win and solidify himself among the all-time greats in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Oftentimes, trends tend to play a pivotal role for people to glance at and if there’s a favorable trend, it’s Sato rolling off second for Sunday’s 109th edition of the historic race.
Of his two previous victories, it’s Sato best career start and both his wins happened when he rolled off within the first four starting positions with his 2020 triumph happening after rolling off third.
Once again driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s No. 75 Honda team, Sato has been the flag bearer of the organization this month while teammates Devlin DeFrancesco, Louis Foster and Graham Rahal are mired back in 16th, 20th and 27th respectively.
Despite a hard crash during spring testing in April that resulted in some bruises, soreness and a backup car, the Japanese native has been consistent throughout the Month of May. Even after setting a four-lap average of 232.478 mph only to be bested by rookie Robert Shwartzman, Sato’s race trim looked promising when he was third fastest during Monday’s practice session.
Sato explained he’s been happy with the progress the team have made and understands the importance of Friday’s Carb Day. It’ll mark the last day to be on the track and make valuable adjustments before the 200-lap odyssey commences Sunday (Noon ET on FOX).
“Tomorrow is our last chance to see the car setup, see how it’s going to work,” said Sato. “After qualifying, we were satisfied with our performance very well. In race car situation, I think we were still halfway. So hopefully we can sort it out before Sunday.”
At the tender age of 48, a third Indy 500 victory will make Sato the oldest winner in history, surpassing Al Unser’s feat in 1987 when he won his fourth and final 500 at 47 years and 360 days.
Sandwiched between Shwartzman and Pato O’Ward in the front row, both men who are 25 and 26 years old, respectively, Sato reflected on how much he’s grown as a competitor in the 25-plus years he’s been a motorsports competitor.
While tough to determine specific factors that’s played into his continuing drive to succeed, Sato simply put it that he enjoys and appreciates what racing has provided him. Above all else, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the peak of his joys and mentioned how much Shwartzman will enjoy the experience beyond winning pole last Sunday.
“Every time you come back here, I think Robert is obviously going through amazing experience over the course of the last few weeks in particularly. But he will feel it next year. You will appreciate even more,” Sato to Shwartzman.
“Regardless of where you are, who you are, what results you have achieved, but come back here once you experience on the Sunday of over 300,000 people, just magnitude, impact, you have something done nothing like in the before,” Sato continued.
“That’s experience, you then motivated, I want to challenge it again, I want to challenge it again.”
Sato’s motivation of continuing to compete at Indianapolis is admirable. He added how his experience has allowed him to come back without skipping a beat in spite of not being a full-time IndyCar driver since 2022.
On top of that, Sato is far from the only man in the over-40 club in this race that continue to compete for wins among a group of the sport’s young guns. As the old saying goes, age is just a number or like Sato’s famous mantra, “no attack, no chance.”
“I’ve been here over 25 or 27 years in my professional race career,” Said said. “Those experiences helped me to jump into the car after months of absence. I think age at this point doesn’t seem to mean stop, it means go fast.
“You could say Helio (Castroneves) is one hell of a driver, of course. Still keep winning.
“I think all competitors, so many younger, new generation drivers, make sure with myself, Helio, Dixie (Scott Dixon), some of the experienced and old-ish driver, we can still make sure are racing. I think that’s the name of the sport. Hopefully we all have our great fun.”
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