Pit Problem Halts Sato’s Charge to Finish in the Top Ten

May 30, 2010: The Indy 500 is the world’s biggest motorsport race and also the largest single day sporting event in the world and so the world’s fastest racers converge on Indianapolis from throughout the USA, plus Brazil, Japan, Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Venezuela, Columbia, Belgium, Netherlands, South Africa and Switzerland. For a historic 100 years it has attracted the hearts and minds of race fans and the fastest racers and their crews! Back in 1911 the winner reached 74 mph and the 500 mile race took almost 7 hours to complete. Today, the IndyCars reach 234 mph and the race will be completed in about 3 hours.

Takuma Sato came back to Indianapolis, Indiana as a former Formula 1 Podium Winner (3rd place) in the 2004 United States Grand Prix on the Indy Road Course, which was won by Michael Schumacher, on the road track that is on the infield of the larger 2.5 mile Indy oval track.

Takuma has only competed in one oval before, the IndyCar race in Kansas City which saw him climb to 5th position, before he was struck by another car and knocked out of what was sure to be an amazing top ten finish in his very first oval race!

Takuma arrived in Indianapolis in early May and started the preparations for the biggest race stage of his career. The IndyCars are finely tuned by their engineers to squeeze every drop of speed from their 650 hp HONDA engines, sitting on an incredibly light 1.620 lb Dallara chassis. All IndyCars share the same basic specifications, so the final tweaks made by the engineers are absolutely critical.

Qualifying for the Indy 500 is a major undertaking as the qualifying prize money brought out 40 entries vying for the coveted 33 starting positions. Changing track conditions through the qualifying day also make a big difference as track temperatures can vary by as much as 50 degrees creating entirely different response of the tires as they speed around corners at over 210 mph.

During practice prior to qualifying, Takuma slid out at one of the corners and crashed into the wall at about 210 mph, sending him to the hospital for x-rays and the car back to the trackside garage where a new engine and transmission were fit and the rear-end was completely rebuilt over night. Fortunately the team did an incredible job rebuilding the race car and despite significant physical issues from the crash the day before, Takuma was able to qualify 31st for the race!

Takuma had the week off to rest and recover, and get a few more practice laps in, during the week leading up to the big race. On Friday, members of his fan club arrived from Japan and Takuma and the Matthew Winter (Takuma’s Manager) were able to show them a true behind the scenes look at the Indy 500, KV Racing’s support infrastructure and direct contact with the #5 LOTUS race car and all of Takuma’s race gear.
By the day of the big race, Takuma had a very good idea of the magnitude of the Indy 500 and an even higher level of respect for the entire Izod IndyCar Series as a real premier race program. At 13:10 the most famous words in racing were announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines” and with that, another exciting chapter in Takuma Sato’s career was underway.

Starting 31st, Takuma slid back to 33rd and started to size-up the track and the competition. Remember this was only his second oval race ever, and the speeds were an incredible 230 mph, much faster than he ever raced in Formula 1, or Formula 3 because it is such an enormous oval track. The race track itself was very slick and treacherous with the outside air reaching a record 95F and the track climbed to a temperature of 130F. Early in the race, another car hit the wall and careened all the way across the track, Takuma’s lightning fast reflexes allowed him to skillfully maneuver around the car that was sliding out of control avoiding an early disaster. Over the course off the race Takuma passed 20 other cars, but was forced to pit two extra times and incur a 15 second penalty due to pit crew issues.

In the end, Takuma did a brilliant display of driving and finished in the 20th position, and was awarded over $300,000 in prize money… in only his second oval race, racing at speeds faster than he has raced before. “This was definitely some experience for me today” said Takuma. “We moved up close to the top-ten in the middle of the race. Then we had a problem on a pit stop and we received a penalty. Due to that penalty, we got behind a lap and we could not make it up. The race was very long and there were a lot of difficult situations. I do feel good about finishing the entire race and I learned a lot. The Indy 500 is just a spectacular event. The Lotus – KV Racing Technology team worked very hard all month and we had a great experience racing here.”

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