Takuma Sato Makes IndyCar History With Victory At Long Beach

Takuma Sato has made IndyCar history after taking his and Japan’s maiden IZOD IndyCar Series victory around the Streets of Long Beach, after an incident-filled race ran in scorching weather conditions. The 36-year-old took the victory ahead of Graham Rahal, with Justin Wilson 3rd for Dale Coyne Racing,

After securing pole position, four-time Champion Dario Franchitti led at the start as the field jostled for position through the opening corners. At Turn 6, rookie Tristan Vautier collided with Scott Dixon, an incident which forced the Kiwi to pit with a puncture and saw Vautier struck with a drive-thru penalty for causing an avoidable incident. Further collisions ensued throughout the opening lap, as Sebastian Saavedra slammed into the wall at Turn 9. This saw the first of many full course cautions, as Marco Andretti pitted to replace a damaged front nose cone.

The race was restarted on Lap 7, as Dario Franchitti fought for the lead of the race with reigning Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. This was the first lap the Scotsman had led since the season finale at Fontana last year, in what has so far been a tough new season. Dario Franchitti proceeded to open up a gap to Ryan Hunter-Reay throughout the opening few laps, before Takuma Sato managed to overtake the Andretti Autosport driver for 2nd on Lap 22. The Japanese ace then began to catch Franchitti for the lead, before electing to pit on Lap 28 along with Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Dario Franchitti pitted from the lead a lap later and suffered a frustratingly slow stop, which ultimately led to the 39-year-old loosing the lead to Will Power. A second full course caution was caused on Lap 30 when Charlie Kimball and Alex Tagliani collided at Turn 8. Will Power, who has so far led during each of the three opening races, pitted under caution and handed the lead down to Takuma Sato.

The race was resumed on Lap 35, only for a third full course caution to be caused moments later when James Hinchcliffe and Tony Kanaan collected E.J. Viso at Turn 1. The Venezuelan driver continued to circulate, and eventually pitted for repairs along with Ryan Hunter-Reay, unlike Tony Kanaan who managed to survive the incident relatively unscathed. The race was quickly resumed, as Takuma Sato continued to lead at the front despite Graham Rahal’s attempts to reel in the A.J. Foyt Racing driver.

Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay’s disastrous race was ended on Lap 50, when the American driver struck the tyre barrier at Turn 8. This caused the fourth full course caution of the race, and allowed the leaders to pit under caution. Takuma Sato won the race off of pit road, whereas further back Will Power was struck by Tristan Vautier who was exiting his pit box. This caused slight damage to Power’s Penske, and saw Vautier issued with his second penalty of the day. During the melee in the pit-lane, A.J. Allmendinger was forced into retirement with a mechanical issue.

Once again the race was resumed on Lap 56, as Takuma Sato remained in the lead ahead of Graham Rahal. Charlie Kimball’s race was brought to a premature conclusion when the 28-year-old struck the barrier at Turn 1. However, this did not result in a full course caution, as the gap at the front ebbed and flowed between Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal. As Takuma Sato started his final lap of the race, there was contact between Tony Kanaan and Oriol Servia, which saw the race end under caution conditions as Takuma Sato stormed to an historic victory around the Streets of Long Beach.

The Japanese ace was followed home by Graham Rahal in 2nd and Justin Wilson in 3rd, after 80 incident-filled laps. Takuma Sato’s victory was the first for A.J. Foyt Racing since Kansas in 2002, and the first on a street or road course since Silverstone way back in 1978. With three different winners in the first three races, the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series has enjoyed an exciting and unpredictable start. Helio Castroneves remains atop the Drivers’ Championship with 99 points, however Takuma Sato is only six points adrift in 2nd position. The Series will reconvene in several weeks time around the Streets of Sao Paulo for the Sao Paulo Indy 300.

Results - 80 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                        Time/Gap
 1.  Takuma Sato          Foyt Dallara-Honda         1h50m08.7155s
 2.  Graham Rahal         Rahal Dallara-Honda            + 5.3612s
 3.  Justin Wilson        Coyne Dallara-Honda            + 8.2386s
 4.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi Dallara-Honda         + 12.3573s
 5.  JR Hildebrand        Panther Dallara-Chevy         + 28.2402s
 6.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy     + 29.4683s
 7.  Marco Andretti       Andretti Dallara-Chevy        + 30.2703s
 8.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt Dallara-Honda         + 31.8674s
 9.  Simona de Silvestro  KV Dallara-Chevy              + 33.1224s
10.  Helio Castroneves    Penske Dallara-Chevy          + 33.4118s
11.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi Dallara-Honda         + 33.6278s
12.  James Jakes          Rahal Dallara-Honda           + 35.0645s
13.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher Dallara-Honda          + 35.8945s
14.  Ana Beatriz          Coyne Dallara-Honda           + 36.3442s
15.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon Dallara-Chevy          + 36.5936s
16.  Will Power           Penske Dallara-Chevy          + 43.0022s
17.  Tristan Vautier      Schmidt Dallara-Honda         + 51.7961s
18.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter Dallara-Chevy       + 56.4533s
19.  Alex Tagliani        Herta Dallara-Honda             + 1 laps
20.  Tony Kanaan          KV Dallara-Chevy                + 2 laps
21.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi Dallara-Honda           + 2 laps
22.  EJ Viso              Andretti Dallara-Chevy         + 27 laps

Retirements:

     AJ Allmendinger      Penske Dallara-Chevy             51 laps
     Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti Dallara-Chevy           49 laps
     Mike Conway          Rahal Dallara-Honda              38 laps
     James Hinchcliffe    Andretti Dallara-Chevy           34 laps
     Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon Dallara-Chevy               1 lap

Picture Copyright © Chris Jones/IndyCar