Following a pair of top-six finishes to complete the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season, Takuma Sato is hoping to have a strong season in 2015.
Coming off of a victory and two podiums in 2013, it was expected that Sato would be part of the conversation all season long, with regards to race wins and top-five contention. However, that wasn’t the case last season. He started off the season solidly, posting a seventh in the season opener, though fell off from the month of May on with finishes outside of the top 15 on a weekly basis.
As the season came to a close, though, Sato began to find his footing once again, placing a fifth in the second Honda Indy Toronto race before finishing the year with a fourth at Sonoma Raceway and a sixth at Auto Club Speedway.
A.J. Foyt Racing has proved, even being a single-car organization, that they have the speed and the people to get the job done. However, if they want to see their driver enter the top-10 in points, consistency is something that is strongly needed. Sato will need to find a consistent barrier in making sure to push hard to get track position, but also be there at the end when it counts. Five of the seven DNFS for Sato were as a result of crashes – something that you can’t have with the competition being as close as it is. The team also has to find the speed on a consistent basis weekly to therefore make the job easier on the driver.
AJR has started to work towards improvement, though, in the off-season with a pair of key moves – they moved from Texas to Speedway, Indiana, and hired a second driver. The move will put them right in the hub, surrounded by the other teams. Being close to the others and have close access to resources can only help the expansion of know how. Though perhaps the second driver hiring is even more, important.
Sophomore driver Jack Hawksworth will drive a second car for the organization after putting together some strong finishes throughout his rookie season. The addition of Hawksworth will give Sato someone to bounce ideas off of, as well as more data for the team to be able to accumulate during practice and test sessions. With data being so important these days for engineers, it could certainly help them find what they need to have quicker cars in 2015.
