Sato became the fifth different driver to win the Indy 500 for Andretti.
Advertisement
Takuma Sato won the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, becoming the first Japanese driver to triumph in America’s iconic race. He finished on the podium one time: at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2004.
This is going to be mega big in Japan, said Sato. It’s attractive. I can’t thank enough this team.
“When a chance to win a race comes, I have to give 100 percent”.
Castroneves spent the rest of the race playing cat-and-mouse with Sato and almost had him just as the second-to-last lap began.
Lazier has been coming to the Indy 500 every year in his single-car effort, even though he hasn’t been competitive in years.
Rookie Ed Jones, born in Dubai, was third, followed by Britain’s Max Chilton – who led a race-high 50 laps – Brazil’s Tony Kanaan, Colombia’s Juan Pablo Montoya and 2016 victor Alexander Rossi of the United States.
“I really thought we had it”, said Castroneves, who was trying to join A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as a four-time victor.
The race was hit by drama early on when pole sitter Scott Dixon and Jay Howard were involved in a huge crash that tore Dixon’s vehicle in half.
It was a testament to the progress safety equipment has made that Dixon walked away from the massive crash which also ended Briton Jay Howard’s race.
The other big story on Sunday was the collective sigh of relief after 2008 Indy 500 victor Scott Dixon walked away unscathed from one of the scariest wrecks in the race’s history.
He was among a six-car Andretti Autosport contingent that dominated most of the race. Dixon got out of the wrecked auto under his own power and stepped into an ambulance for a trip to the infield care center. “Unfortunately it was just a little bit short”. “I’m glad neither of us was hurt. I didn’t know if he could pull it off”. “Who knows what position we could be”.
In a Chevrolet for Team Penske, Castroneves briefly took the lead but couldn’t make it stick as Sato grabbed it back. If not for a mechanical failure with 20 laps remaining in the race, it might have been successful.
Sato passed three-time victor Helio Castroneves in the waning laps and held on for the victory. So close to get the fourth (win), but I’m really trying, I will not give up this dream.
The caution flag came out again when Conor Daly smashed into the wall on Turn 3 and Buddy Lazier, the victor of the 1996 Indy 500, was taken to hospital with chest discomfort after a hard crash shortly afterwards.
Andretti’s star driver, two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso, a rookie at Indy, had his engine expire with less than 50 miles to go.
The Honda-powered cars went straight to the front, dominating the early laps.
Other crashes knocked out Conor Daly, Jack Harvey and 1996 Indy victor Buddy Lazier.
Dixon’s wreck ended a long streak of caution-free racing that dated to last year’s race.
“I say, “great job” to my guys”, added Castroneves, who recovered from his worst Indy 500 start (19th) and the pit drive-through penalty to finish runner-up.
Advertisement
But it may have taught him patience. From a fan perspective, I think IndyCar is on the leading edge with that technology, so I’m looking forward to seeing what comes in the future, but as far as driver aids, hopefully they keep that to a minimum.
