Sato steals spotlight from Alonso at Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS At the end of 500 miles around Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it was a former Formula One driver who took the checkered flag. He even drove for Andretti Autosport.
It just wasn’t Fernando Alonso. Takuma Sato became the first Japanese winner of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday when he denied Helio Castroneves a record-tying fourth victory as the two traded the lead in the closing laps.
“This is going to be mega big” in Japan, Sato said. “A lot of the Japanese fans are following the IndyCar Series and many, many flew over for the Indianapolis 500. We showed the great result today and I am very proud of it.”
Sato’s victory gave car owner Michael Andretti a second consecutive win in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Last year, it was rookie Alexander Rossi. This time it’s Sato, who joined the team this season and had largely been overlooked. The Andretti camp expanded to six cars for the 500 to add Alonso, a two-time F1 champion who brought massive European interest to the race.
Alonso did have a spectacular race and even led 27 laps, but simply fell victim to his engine when it blew with 20 laps remaining. The crowd gave the Spaniard a standing ovation as he climbed from his car.
“I felt the noise, the engine friction, I backed off and I saw the smoke and, yeah, it’s a shame,” Alonso said. “It’s a very nice surprise to come here with big names, big guys, the best in open-wheel racing and be competitive.”
The Honda teams had a clear horsepower advantage over Chevrolet, but things were dicey on race day: Before Alonso’s failure, 2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay lost his Honda and so did Charlie Kimball. Hunter-Reay had led 28 laps and was a strong contender late.
Sato also had to hold off the savvy Castroneves. In a Chevrolet for Team Penske, Castroneves briefly took the lead but couldn’t make it stick as Sato grabbed it back. Castroneves was disappointed to fall short of the four-time winners club — particularly since it was his third runner-up finish.
“Being second again sucks, being so close to getting my fourth,” Castroneves said. “I’m really trying. I’m not giving up this dream and I know it’s going to happen.”
The margin of victory was 0.2011 seconds and the win was redemption for Sato, who crashed while trying to beat Dario Franchitti on the final lap of the 2012 race.
A joyful Sato dumped a bottle of milk over his head, received a kiss from the Indy 500 Princess and raised his finger in the air. Michael Andretti ran down pit lane to reach Sato’s crew, then rushed to hug his driver.
As for the difference between 2012, when Sato crashed in the first turn of the final lap racing Dario Franchitti, Sato said his strategy this year was perfect.
“I was pointing in the right direction into (Turn) One,” Sato said.
It was only the second IndyCar victory for Sato, who won driving for A.J. Foyt in Long Beach in 2013 — a span of 74 races.
Ed Jones finished a career-best third and was followed by Max Chilton and Tony Kanaan, the highest finishers for Chip Ganassi Racing. Two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya was sixth.
Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe was involved in a crash with 17 laps to go.