Takuma Sato scores first IndyCar Series victory at Long Beach
In his 52nd career start, Takuma Sato would run away from the field at the end of the race to score his first career victory. It marks the first victory by a Japanese driver ever in the IndyCar Series.
“The team did a tremendous job,” Sato said. “The car was great. Pit stops were perfect – great call. Just an incredible feeling.”
Sato would grab the lead with just over 40 laps left in the event and never look back, leading the rest of the way despite some late race restarts.
“I think it was really perfect,” he added. “I think the way the say this is it is an easy win. Can’t believe that it came together like it did. It’s just a day where everything fell together.”
It also marks the first road course/street course victory for A.J. Foyt Racing since 1978.
Graham Rahal would bounce back from his early season bad luck to finish second while Justin Wilson avoided trouble to complete the podium after problems during practice on Friday.
“Just a little bit of luck, circumstances and the team did a good job with the strategy,” he said. “We came in five six laps and put on the reds and pushed hard the entire race and I think that helped. It was great to get the result. Everybody worked hard to put the car back together on Friday.”
Looking to get back into the championship hunt after some early season struggles, Dario Franchitti would finish fourth.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We were good for that first stint, had a bad pit stop which cost a few spots. We adjusted and then there was Charlie (Kimball) there that was just going for glory. I lost some track position there, but good result for the Target team after the first couple of weeks.”
J.R. Hildebrand rounded out the top five. Oriol Servia finishes sixth, followed by Marco Andretti, Simon Pagenaud, Simona de Silvestro and points leader Helio Castroneves. Castroneves now leads Sato by only eight points as the top six are within 28 points following the third race of the season.
Several Championship favourites ran into problems throughout the day. Scott Dixon’s day started ugly after he had a flat tire on the first lap due to contact with rookie Tristan Vautier. Vautier would recieve a penalty of “avoidable contact”.
Following his last place finish at Barber, James Hinchcliffe was looking to bounce back. However, he would sustain heavy damage in a crash on the restart with 35 laps to go. Teammates E.J. Viso and Ryan Hunter-Reay also collected damage in the incident.
“From my point of view, Tony (Kanaan) got a killer start and while we were in the break-zone, he just turned in on me,” Hinchcliffe said after the race. “I was trying to defend on Pagenaud and I got squeezed. I guess it’s just one of those racing deals. Restarts here are tough as you are always on top of each other. It sucks. I thought we had played the right tire strategy and were going to be there at the end.”
Defending series champion Hunter-Reay would have more problems when he ran into the turn eight tire barriers while trying to make a pass on Ana Beatriz.
“I just started getting desperate,” he admitted. “We just couldn’t go anywhere we just missing grip in corners. I just got desperate and started trying things. We were in the back there. I had to try something. I got inside of Ana there and there was no grip. Just made a bad day worse. We definitely have to bounce back in Brazil.”
Penske Racing driver Will Power ran into problems on pit road with contact between himself and Vautier.
Sebastian Saavedra would run into problems early in the race, hitting the wall in turn three.
Coming off of a good run at Barber, Charlie Kimball was hoping to carry his momentum forward. However, he would get tagged by Alex Tagliani on lap 31. He would run into more problems, hitting the turn one tires with 25 laps to go while battling for the lead.
A.J. Allmendinger was also looking for a good run as he prepares for the Indianapolis 500 in May, though would stall in turn five with 29 laps to go.
With two laps to go, Tony Kanaan looked like he’d score a solid finish within the top five, however contact between himself and Oriol Servia with two laps to go ended those chances.
Lap by Lap: Honda Grand Prix of Long Beach won by Takumo Sato
In his 52nd career start, Takumo Sato would pick up his first career victory at the Honda Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Lap 1 Dario Franchitti grabs the advantage as Hunter-Reay tucks in behind him. Right rear flat on Scott Dixon’s car as Vautier gets into the back of him. “He needs a penalty. I have no idea what he was thinking.”
Lap 2 Franchitti leads Hunter-Reay Sato Power Conway Hinchcliffe Castroneves Kimball Kanaan Rahal
Lap 3 Sebastian Saavedra makes heavy contact with the wall in turn 9. Full course caution. He carried too much speed into the corner. Marco Andretti pits to fix tail end damage and get a new nose cone. Vautier accessed penalty for contact with Dixon. Drivers make pit stops under yellow.
Restart lap 8 Hunter-Reay grabs the lead on the restart, yet Franchitti retakes it in the next corner.
Lap 9 Franchitti leads Hunter-Reay Sato Power Hinchcliffe Kimball Rahal Kanaan Viso Conway
Lap 13 Castroneves heads down pit road for fuel, tires and a new nose.
Lap 18 Franchitti leads Hunter-Reay Sato Power Hinchcliffe Kimball Rahal Kanaan Viso Conway
Lap 19 Pagenaud pits as the fuel window is open.
Lap 20 Franchitti leads Hunter-Reay Sato Power Hinchcliffe Kimball Rahal….Tagliani pits.
Lap 23 Sato passes Hunter-Reay for second. Conway pits.
Lap 27 Allmendinger and Servia both hit pit road.
Lap 31 Full course caution. Tagliani and Kimball make contact in Turn 8. Tagliani tagged Kimball. Sato grabs the lead ahead.
Restart lap 35 Hinchcliffe and EJ Viso wreck. Hinchcliffe heavy contact with the wall – full course caution is back out. Hunter-Reay collects damage, changing his nose cone. Hinchcliffe tried to made a move that has no room. Conway on pit road with electrical issues. Sato leads Franchitti Rahal Power Kanaan
Restart lap 39 Sato leads the field into turn one as Rahal passes Franchitti for second on lap two
Lap 40 Sato leads Rahal Franchitti Vautier Kanaan Pagenaud Power Wilson Servia de Silvestro
Halfway
39 laps to go Sato leads Rahal Vautier Franchitti Pagenaud Kanaan Wilson Power Servia de Silvestro
37 to go Wilson passes Kanaan; Servia passes Power
31 laps to go Pagenaud hits pit road. Sato leads Rahal Vautier Franchitti Wilson Kanaan
30 laps to go Ryan Hunter-Reay hits the tires in turn eight while trying to make a pass on Beatriz. Full course caution. Sato makes his way down pit road. Rahal and Franchitti make their way down pit road. Most of the leaders are on pit road. Vautier and Power make contact on pit road. Power stalled it on pit road.
29 laps to go Allmendinger has stalled in turn five
“I just started getting desperate. We just couldn’t go anywhere we just missing grip in corners. I just got desperate and started trying things. We were in the back there. I had to try something. I got inside of Ana there and there was no grip. Just made a bad day worse. We definitely have to bounce back in Brazil.” – RHR
Restart 25 laps to go Sato and Kimball battle for the lead into turn one. Kimball gets into the tire wall in turn one. Sato holds on to the lead.
24 laps to go Sato leads Rahal Wilson Franchitti Kanaan Servia Pagenaud Andretti de Silvestro Hildebrand. Kimball on pit road for another new nose.
23 laps to go Pagenaud has tire smoke off right rear due to contact with Andretti. Andretti makes the pass.
20 laps to go Sato leads Rahal Wilson Franchitti Kanaan Servia Andretti Pagenaud Hildebrand de Silvestro
16 laps to go Sato leads Rahal Wilson Franchitti Kanaan Servia Andretti Pagenaud Hildebrand de Silvestro
15 laps to go Hildebrand passes Pagenaud
8 laps to go Hildebrand passes Andretti
2 laps to go Servia and Kanaan make contact resulting in Kanaan getting into the tire wall. Local caution.
Final lap. Full course yellow. Servia receives a 30 second penalty for the contact.
Takumo Sato wins his first career victory. Rahal. Wilson. Franchitti. Hildebrand. Andretti. Pagenaud. De Silvestro. Castroneves Dixon
Rating the race – Kansas kind to Kenseth and Keselowski but not to Kyle
Why I watched…
Well, it was Sunday. To be honest, Kansas is not exactly a marquee track just yet, but I wondered how Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano might rebound after the penalties. I also wondered if Kyle Busch might continue his hot hand.
The race…
Sorry Kyle. Mr. Busch has never done really well here, and Saturday’s truck adventure was a disaster. We should have known, as on Sunday it was no better. The car was ill handling and when it snapped around on him a second time he found the wall and as the car slid down the track he found Joey Logano. Day over, time to pack up the pieces and head out of Dodge, er, Kansas City.
For Logano, Kansas proved worse than Texas. A 25 point penalty hit could be deemed just a mulligan, but to follow that up with a 39th had to be deflating. On a positive note, the near nose-to-nose impact was hard, but the cars crumpled nicely before the driver’s compartments to leave both boys safe and sound. Damned disappointed, but safe.
Keselowski finished sixth, coming back from early issues that had left him a lap off within 30 laps. Too bad about that last caution caused when the rear tail panel finally flew off his battered auto. It cost the pitting Dale Earnhardt Jr, who fell from 3rd to 21st in the late going. Yes, we shall blame Brad for that. Maybe Roger Penske, too, while we are at it.
It was nice that Matt Kenseth shared the lead for a good portion of the second half of this one. He absolutely dominated the front half then returned to sew up his second win of the season, the 26th of his career. Kasey Kahne at least charged up to make it a bit interesting over the final laps, but we all knew how this one was going to end.
One thing I really noticed in watching the ticker scroll by was that only 30 drivers are relevant. If aliens landed and took the other 13, most would be hard pressed to notice. It was nice of Michael McDowell to wait until after Dave Blaney wrecked his car on the 36th lap before crawling back to the garage seven laps later to put his car to bed. Unlike the Beach Boys, the poor guy was having bad vibrations. More than 20 laps later and Mike Bliss parked his due to his brakes. It could have been worse for those two chaps. Aliens could have got them.
The injured Denny Hamlin is now 46 points out of the Top Twenty. He is hoping to be back at Richmond next weekend. If that works out, he could pick up a win and be back into contention within the next month.
Jimmie Johnson finished third at Kansas, leaving him 37 points up on Kahne and 38 ahead of Keselowski as they move on to Virginia this Saturday night.
Rating the race…
7.5/10 – It had its moments, especially for those who follow the sport. The Busch-Logano crash was a highlight for those who do not, as well as Danica Patrick’s temper regarding the likes of David Gilliland. We await her first tossed helmet. Still, the pack was spread out and the tires lasted longer than Fred Flintstone’s. It was pleasant, but not overly exciting. For that, we still must wait a couple of weeks.
