Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato heads into this weekend’s 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season-opening Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding aiming for a strong result in what is his 200th NTT IndyCar Series race start.
Sato’s Saturday here in St Pete did not start well as he was involved in a collision with Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean meaning that his Dale Coyne Racing with RWR team has their work cut out for them in order to get the No.51 Nurtec Honda ready for qualifying this afternoon.
Speaking about his 200th race, Sato said;
I’m extremely happy to go back to St.Petersburg, not just because it’s an exciting opener for the 2022 season but because it’s also my first with my new team at Dale Coyne Racing with RWR. It’s been a quite challenging winter as I was restricted to only a single day test on track, but we have prepared the best we could. Everything is new for me, new engineers, new crew guys and a new number (51) so there was a bit extra work for me that needed to be done, but it’s all been very positive and I’m happily settling in and we’re ready to go.
“St.Petersburg is a really gorgeous and perfect venue for the opener. Warm weather, a lot of energy from the city, enthusiastic fans, and great on track action. It’s a quite unique track. The main straight is an iconic runway and it’s very challenging with hard braking into Turn 1. Crossing the wide white stripes upsets the car but then the combination of such high-speed corners for a street course and complex slow speed sections challenges the drivers and I really enjoy it.
“DCR has a successful record in St.Petersburg and I personally have had some of my favorite moments there too so with those two factors, I just can’t wait to drive the beautiful #51 Nurtec ODT Panasonic Honda for the first time in a race weekend.
“Lastly this is my 200th race in IndyCar. I really want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me to make this happen. I’m very fortunate and absolutely thrilled to get the 2022 season started. I’m wearing a one-off special edition 200th race-inspired designed helmet this weekend and it is the perfect event to celebrate that accomplishment with this fresh, new start!”
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