Takuma Sato

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Takuma Sato (born 28 January 1977) is a Japanese professional racing driver.

Sato has raced full-time in the IndyCar Series since 2010 for the Honda-powered KV, Rahal, Foyt, Andretti, and again starting from 2018, the Rahal teams.

Sato won the 2017 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first Asian driver to win the Indy 500.

He also became the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar race when he won the 2013 Grand Prix of Long Beach.

He competed in Formula One from 2002 to 2008 for the Honda-powered Jordan, BAR and Super Aguri teams, scoring a single podium at the 2004 United States Grand Prix.

His 8th-place finish in the 2004 Formula One World Drivers' Championship is the best-ever result for a Japanese driver in the series.

Personal life

Sato is married to Chiharu Sato, with whom he has two children. He currently lives in Carmel, Indiana with his manager, Steve Fusek. Sato was a national cycling champion in high school, and still uses cycling as part of his physical training for his racing career.

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Early career

Sato, a Tokyo native, began karting in Japan at the age of 19. He travelled to Europe after winning the national karting championship in 1997, with Honda backing. He competed briefly in Vauxhall Junior and Formula Opel before making his debut in Class B of the British Formula 3 Championship midway through 1999. In 2000, he started with Carlin Motorsports, winning four outright victories and third third place in the championship. He won 12 out 13 of 13 races in 2001 to win a dramatic championship, the first for a Japanese driver in the series. He also won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix and Masters of Formula 3 non-championship F3 races in 2001.

Formula One career

Sato joined Jordan's Honda-powered Jordan team in 2002 and was paired with Giancarlo Fisichella. Nick Heidfeld lost control of his Sauber under braking and crashed into Sato's car, causing him to crash a hole in the side of the cockpit. Throughout his race, he showed flashes of speed but also wild driving, but the team's hope in Sato was rewarded by a fine drive to fifth at his home Grand Prix in Suzuka.

Sato joined the Brackley-based company as a test driver, with Honda's attention shifting solely to British American Racing in 2003. Sato replaced Jacques Villeneuveneuve in the final round of his career in Japan, earning his second points finish of his career after a match with Michael Schumacher. In 2004, he was signed to compete full-time. Sato qualified four times in the top three, including a front row debut and a new lap record at the European Grand Prix, during the 2004 season. Sato's spirited driving style paid dividends at the United States Grand Prix, where, after the team didn't pit under safety car conditions, Sato fought back to win his first podium finish and first for a Japanese driver since Aguri Suzuki at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. He had to abandon six times due to reliability problems, but he earned points in nine of the 11 races he completed to finish eighth in the championship with 34 points, the best-ever result for a Japanese driver in Formula One. BAR-Honda came in second place in the Constructors' Championship, thanks to his efforts.

Sato was retained by BAR-Honda for the 2005 season, but the 2005 model was not as good as the previous year's. Sato missed the Malaysian Grand Prix due to sickness, and both pilots were disqualified from the San Marino Grand Prix, and the entire team was barred from running second races against using vehicles that were underweight until all fuel was removed. This was not found to be deliberate by the Court. Sato's career never recovered from that place, and he ended the year with eighth-place at the Hungarian Grand Prix as his only points finish, despite qualifying seven times in the top ten. Despite Honda taking complete responsibility of the operation, Sato was not re-signed for 2006.

Sato was the current Super Aguri F1 team, led by Japanese former driver Aguri Suzuki. The new squad was still a Honda B-team, but with a modified version of a 2002 Arrows A23 chassis, the first half of the season was a blast. However, Sato's image boosted due to his professional attitude and a positive attitude. Sato was outpacing the Midland cars by the time of the season, with the SA06 at the German Grand Prix. Sato came in tenth at a points finish, just two places shy of a finish and well ahead of both Toro Rossos and the Spyker MF1.

Super Aguri made a reworked version of the Honda RA106 chassis used last year. Sato made it to Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix, and their results soared sharply. He then scored his first point for the team at the Spanish Grand Prix. Sato took sixth place at the Canadian Grand Prix after going from the middle of the grid to a top of fifth, beating Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen before a pit-stop put him back to eleventh place. He took first five places in the last 15 laps, beating Toyota's Ralf Schumacher and then the McLaren-Mercedes of Fernando Alonso on lap 67; the latter pass was greeted with cheers around the track and received the F1 Racing magazine's "Overtake of the Year" award.

The team's financial difficulties began to impact the offseason, and the squad only made it to the first round of the 2008 season in Australia. The team used a modified Honda RA107 chassis, which was delivered just before the first Friday Practice session this weekend. A transmission problem in Australia ended a chance to score points in a contest of attrition, and Spain's 13th victory of the season followed Sato's best showing of the season. After four races in 2008, Super Aguri pulled out of Formula One due to financial difficulties, leaving Sato without a driver after four races.

Sato participated in experiments at Jerez, Portugal, with Scuderia Toro Rosso, in late 2008 to run as a candidate to fill the seat left vacant by Sebastian Vettel. He was racing against former Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Bourdais and Red Bull Racing's test and reserve driver Sébastien Buemi for one of the two race positions. He first drove on September 18th, more than four months after Super Aguri's retirement, and then tested for the team for two days in November, posting the fastest time on the 17th, 3 tenths ahead of Buemi. The race seat was eventually given to Bourdais, but it was later revealed that Sato would not be the reserve driver for the Red Bull team in March 2009.

IndyCar career

In May 2009, Sato attended the Indianapolis 500. He joined KV Racing Technology to compete in the 2010 IndyCar Series, placing in 21st place. He joined the same team in 2011 and improved his form, scoring three top-five finishes and two pole positions during the season to finish 13th.

Sato chased Dario Franchitti to the finish, claiming the lead and the race victory at the first turn of the last lap at the 2012 Indianapolis 500, driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato was acknowledged by Indianapolis 500 fans for his "going for it" on the last lap, despite being unprofitable.

Sato was a member of A. J. Foyt's crew in 2013, propelling the No. 2 to No. 3 for 2013. Mike Conway evacuated 14 cars. Sato won his first IndyCar race of the season at Long Beach in his 52nd appearance in the series, making him the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar competition. He earned six top-five finishes, including two podiums and two pole positions, before leaving the team at the end of 2016.

Sato joined Andretti Autosport in the 2017 season. He went on to become the first Japanese runner to win the Indianapolis 500. He went on to win a pole at the Dual in Detroit on Belle Isle after winning the 500 race. In August, he captured another pole at Pocono Raceway.

Sato would return to RLL in 2018 with Graham Rahal as his teammate, according to Andretti Autosport, a move to Chevrolet in 2018. Andretti's move in the aftermath did not happen. Sato had bad luck in the Indianapolis 500 early in the race, including crash early in the Indianapolis 500 and crashing early at Pocono and failing pit tactics at Gateway, and he was able to miss Ryan Hunter-Reay in the IndyCar race in Portland, winning his third race and first on a permanent road course, starting from 20th starting position in the Indianapolis 500. Sato began his 2019 season with a victory in the third race at Barber Motorsports Park; he started the race from pole position and then climbed to the finish. Sato took home the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway later this season.

Sato won the Indianapolis 500th race for the second time on August 23, 2020, after qualifying on the outside of the front row.

Sato would not return to the team for the 2022 IndyCar season, as it was announced on October 5th 2021. Christian Lundgaard, the Danish driver, had his place in the team taken over.

Sato had signed with Rick Ware Racing for the 2022 season, replacing Romain Grosjean, who had signed with Andretti Autosport, on December 9th, 2021.

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