Takuma Sato

Takuma Sato
Born	{{{birth_date}}} {{{birth_place}}}
Died	{{{death_date}}} {{{death_place}}}
Formula One career
Nationality	Japanese
Years	2002–2008

Takuma Sato
Nationality	Japanese
Starts	58
Wins	1
Poles	2

Takuma Sato (born January 28, 1977}} is a Japanese automobile racing driver. He is racing for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in the 2013 IndyCar Series season.

Formula One

In 2002 Sato graduated to Formula One with the Honda-powered Jordan team, and was paired with Giancarlo Fisichella. His low point was a tremendous crash in Austria, caused when Nick Heidfeld lost control of his Sauber under braking and hit the side of Sato's car, punching a hole in the side of the cockpit.

Sato celebrates his first and only F1 podium at the 2004 United States Grand Prix.

Sato (right) side-by-side with Jarno Trulli at the 2005 Canadian GP

Sato was retained by BAR-Honda for the 2005 season, but the 2005 car was not as close to the front of the pack as the previous year's design. Sato missed the Malaysian Grand Prix with illness, and both drivers were disqualified from the San Marino Grand Prix and the entire team banned from the two subsequent races for using cars which were underweight when all fuel was removed. The Court did not find that this was deliberate.

Sato at the 2006 United States Grand Prix.

Sato at the 2007 British Grand Prix.

Sato at the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Sato finished sixth after having a race that had seen him move from the middle of the grid to a high of fifth, passing Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen before a pit-stop error dropped him back to eleventh. He moved up five places in the last 15 laps, passing Toyota's Ralf Schumacher and then on lap 67 the McLaren-Mercedes of world champion Fernando Alonso (this was met with cheers around the track).

In late 2008, Sato took part in tests at Jerez with Scuderia Toro Rosso, to become a candidate to fill the seat vacated by Sebastian Vettel. He was competing against former Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Bourdais and Red Bull Racing test and reserve driver Sébastien Buemi for one of the two race seats. He first drove on September 18, more than four months since Super Aguri's withdrawal, and tested for the team again for two days in November, setting the fastest time on the 17th, 3 tenths ahead of Buemi, and proceeded by setting the second-fastest time on the 18th.

Sébastien Bourdais eventually won the race seat and in March 2009 it was announced that Sato would not be the reserve driver for the Red Bull team.

Switch to IndyCar

Sato driving for KV Racing at the 2011 Indy Japan 300.

Sato visited the Indianapolis 500 in May 2009. He signed with KV Racing Technology to drive in the 2010 IndyCar Series season finishing in 21st place, he signed for the same team for 2011.

For 2013, Sato joined A.J. Foyt's team, driving the #14 car vacated by Mike Conway. In the third race of the season at Long Beach, Sato scored his first IndyCar win, in his 52nd start in the series, making him the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar race.

Formula Nippon/Super Formula

On 14 June 2012, Mugen Motorsports announced that Takuma Sato will race with Team Mugen in the last 2 rounds, as well as the JAF Grand Prix, at Sportsland Sugo, Suzuka Circuit and Fuji Speedway of the 2012 Formula Nippon season.

Personal life

Sato is married and has two children with his wife, Chiharu.

Motorsports career results

Career summary

Season	Series	Team Name	Races	Poles	Wins	Points	Final Placing
1998	All-Japan Formula Three	Dome Project	1	0	0	0	NC
1999	British Formula Three	Diamond Racing (National Class)	7	0	0	103	4th
	Europa Cup Britain	Diamond Racing	?	?	?	48	2nd
	Formula Opel European Union Series		?	?	1	115	6th
2000	British Formula Three	Carlin Motorsport	12	6	4	129	3rd
	European Formula Three Cup		1	0	0	N/A	NC
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	N/A	14th
	Masters of Formula Three		1	0	0	N/A	28th
	Korea Super Prix		1	0	0	N/A	8th
2001	British Formula Three	Carlin Motorsport	25	6	12	345	1st
	European Formula Three Cup		1	0	0	N/A	NC
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	1	N/A	1st
	Masters of Formula Three		1	1	1	N/A	1st
	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	Test driver
2002	Formula One	DHL Jordan Honda	17	0	0	2	15th
2003	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	1	0	0	3	18th
2004	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	18	0	0	34	8th
2005	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	16	0	0	1	23rd
2006	Formula One	Super Aguri F1 Team	18	0	0	0	23rd
2007	Formula One	Super Aguri F1 Team	17	0	0	4	17th
2008	Formula One	Super Aguri F1 Team	4	0	0	0	21st
2010	IndyCar Series	KV Racing Technology	17	0	0	214	21st
2011	IndyCar Series	KV Racing Technology – Lotus	17	2	0	282	13th
2012	IndyCar Series	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15	0	0	281	14th

* Season In progress

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
2002	DHL Jordan Honda	Jordan EJ12	Honda RA002E 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	MAL 9	BRA 9	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	AUT Ret	MON Ret	CAN 10	EUR 16	GBR Ret	FRA Ret	GER 8	HUN 10	BEL 11	ITA 12	USA 11	JPN 5			15th	2
2003	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 005	Honda RA003E 3.0 V10	AUS	MAL	BRA	SMR	ESP	AUT	MON	CAN	EUR	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	ITA	USA	JPN 6				18th	3
2004	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 006	Honda RA004E 3.0 V10	AUS 9	MAL 15	BHR 5	SMR 16	ESP 5	MON Ret	EUR Ret	CAN Ret	USA 3	FRA Ret	GBR 11	GER 8	HUN 6	BEL Ret	ITA 4	CHN 6	JPN 4	BRA 6		8th	34
2005	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 007	Honda RA005E 3.0 V10	AUS 14	MAL PO	BHR Ret	SMR DSQ	ESP	MON	EUR 12	CAN Ret	USA DNS	FRA 11	GBR 16	GER 12	HUN 8	TUR 9	ITA 16	BEL Ret	BRA 10	JPN DSQ	CHN Ret	23rd	1
2006	Super Aguri F1 Team	Super Aguri SA05	Honda RA806E 2.4 V8	BHR 18	MAL 14	AUS 12	SMR Ret	EUR Ret	ESP 17	MON Ret	GBR 17	CAN 15	USA Ret	FRA Ret									23rd	0
		Super Aguri SA06	Honda RA806E 2.4 V8												GER Ret	HUN 13	TUR NC	ITA 16	CHN DSQ	JPN 15	BRA 10
2007	Super Aguri F1	Super Aguri SA07	Honda RA807E 2.4 V8	AUS 12	MAL 13	BHR Ret	ESP 8	MON 17	CAN 6	USA Ret	FRA 16	GBR 14	EUR Ret	HUN 15	TUR 18	ITA 16	BEL 15	JPN 15	CHN 14	BRA 12			17th	4
2008	Super Aguri F1	Super Aguri SA08	Honda RA808E 2.4 V8	AUS Ret	MAL 16	BHR 17	ESP 13	TUR	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	EUR	BEL	ITA	SIN	CHN	JPN	BRA		21st	0

American open–wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2010	KV Racing Technology	Dallara	Honda	SAO 22	STP 22	ALA 25	LBH 18	KAN 24	INDY 20	TXS 25	IOW 19	WGL 15	TOR 25	EDM 9	MDO 25	SNM 18	CHI 26	KTY 27	MOT 12	HMS 18			21st	214
2011	KV Racing Technology – Lotus	Dallara	Honda	STP 5	ALA 17	LBH 21	SAO 8	INDY 33	TXS1 5	TXS2 12	MIL 8	IOW 19	TOR 20	EDM 21	MDO 4	NHM 7	SNM 18	BAL 18	MOT 10	KTY 15	LVS1 C		13th	282
2012	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Dallara DW12	Honda	STP 22	ALA 24	LBH 8	SAO 3	INDY 17	DET 20	TXS 22	MIL 20	IOW 12	TOR 9	EDM 2	MDO 13	SNM 27	BAL 21	FON 7					14th	281
2013	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara DW12	Honda	STP 8	ALA 14	LBH 1	SAO 2	INDY 13	DET1 19	DET2 23	TXS 11	MIL 7	IOW 23	POC 22	TOR1 24	TOR2 20	MDO 22	SNM	BAL	HOU1	HOU2	FON	13th*	265*

* Season still in progress

¹ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Top 10s (Non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
4	3	62	2	1	3	13	0	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2010	Dallara	Honda	31	20	KV Racing Technology
2011	Dallara	Honda	10	33	KV Racing Technology – Lotus
2012	Dallara	Honda	19	17	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
2013	Dallara	Honda	18	13	A. J. Foyt Enterprises

Complete Formula Nippon/Super Formula results

(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2012	Team Mugen	SUZ	MOT	AUT	FUJ	MOT	SUG 9	SUZ1 17	SUZ2 10	15th	0
2013	Team Mugen	SUZ 15	AUT	FUJ	MOT	INJ	SUG	SUZ		22nd*	0*

*Season in progress

See also

• Andrew Gilbert-Scott - his manager since his Junior Formula career in Europe until 2009

External links

• Official site
• Takuma Sato career statistics
• Takuma Sato Racing Simulation Seat

References

Awards and achievements Preceded by: Antônio Pizzonia Autosport National Racing Driver of the Year 2001 Succeeded by: Robbie Kerr Preceded by: Antônio Pizzonia British Formula Three Champion 2001 Succeeded by: Robbie Kerr Preceded by: Jonathan Cochet Formula Three Masters Winner 2001 Succeeded by: Fabio Carbone Preceded by: André Couto Macau Grand Prix Winner 2001 Succeeded by: Tristan Gommendy Template:Autosport National Driver of the Year Template:IndyCar Series image (between 170-190 pixels) British American Racing Founder Craig Pollock Former Staff Jock Clear · Mark Ellis · Nick Fry · Andrew Green · Ron Meadows · Malcolm Oastler · Adrian Reynard · David Richards · Andrew Shovlin · Willem Toet · Graham Watson · Geoff Willis · Jörg Zander Drivers Jacques Villeneuve · Jenson Button · Takuma Sato · Olivier Panis · Ricardo Zonta · Mika Salo · Anthony Davidson Formula One cars 01 · 002 · 003 · 004 · 005 · 006 · 007 {{{Notables}}} {{{Founder/s}}} {{{Corporate website}}} {{{Parent}}} image (between 170-190 pixels) Super Aguri Founder Aguri Suzuki Personnel Mark Preston · Daniele Audetto Drivers Takuma Sato · Anthony Davidson · Yuji Ide · Franck Montagny · Sakon Yamamoto Formula One cars SA05 · SA06 · SA07 · SA08 {{{Notables}}} {{{Founder/s}}} {{{Corporate website}}} {{{Parent}}} This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Takuma Sato. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.