SATO wins at last

[siffert_fan]

Thought I would post this for all the Takuma Sato fans on the site.

Sato won yesterday's Long Beach Grand Prix IRL race. It was his first victory in the series.

I rate the Long Beach circuit as one of the best true road courses in the world, and it is a vastly better circuit that Monaco. It is actually possible to make passes on the streets of Long Beach rather than havng to play "follow the leader" as at Monte Carlo.

Well done, Sato!!

 

[Galahad]

Good lad. It has been overdue.

 

[gethinceri]

Been a supporter of his for a long time, if there's a (legal) link to the race, please post it.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I've only ever seen Long Beach used for Indy racing but it always produced some great races.

Well done Sato.

 

[JamesHunt]

I watched the race. He was flawless in drive to the win and he is not with a top team either.

 

[Westy]

It was a good race all round. Well done Sato and A. J. Foyt racing.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Good for Sato and AJ.

First win for Foyt on a road course since he beat Rick Mears' Penske at Silverstone in 1978.

http://www.oldracingcars.com/results/result.php?RaceID=Y78P

 

[Westy]

It'd be cool if IndyCar still visited England. It's a pretty good series.

 

[Fenderman]

Yup, a round on the Brands Hatch grand prix circuit and a round on the Rockingham oval would be a nice treat. An opportunity to bring some well needed dosh into the lame duck British economy as well, maybe.

 

[Westy]

Great idea there Fenderman. Both of those tracks would play to the strengths of the series, still keep the Yank audience interested, and help garner some UK support.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Isn't Rockingham a bit short for normal oval racing? Fine for the slower formula of racing but I'm not sure if its capable of hosting 200mph racing.

 

[Fenderman]

CART went there in 2001 and 2002. Tony Kanaan set the Champ Car lap record in 2001 at 24.719s. His average lap speed was 153.408mph. Blink and you would have missed that!

Edit. According to Wiki it's only 0.97 of a mile long. Many of the US ovals are so called 1 mile ovals. Methinks I'll look some of them up.

 

[Fenderman]

Nazareth Speedway is only 0.946m Lap record is 0:18.419 held by Patrick Carpentier driving for Forsythe, in a1998 Champ Car race. The ciruit closed in 2004 and a lot of the infrastructure has been removed or fallen into decay. It's up for sale apparently. Don't know how much for, heh, heh.

 

[soccerman17]

The Iowa track and the Milwaukee Mile are both equally short. It would be fine. And I would love to see Brands Hatch if not for the noise restraints! If you don't like the noise don't move next to a racetrack!

 

[KekeTheKing]

.......and Sato ALMOST wins again!

I only just finished watching this "race" yesterday. I lost track of how many cautions they had (7?) and how many laps were run under yellow. But the final 10 laps were great stuff.

James Hinchcliffe got Taku on the final corner by ducking underneath him on the exit of the hairpin. Sato was in serious defense mode for a while with very old tires and he got ever so slightly out of shape under braking for the final corner. Super finish.

 

[Westy]

I finished watching the race this morning. It was quality. I turned to my wife and asked "why can't F1 be this good?" I was shocked at what I had just said.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Although the racing was excellent at times, I'm just not interested in the constant NASCAR-like reshuffling of the field and strategies dependent on multiple Caution periods.

I like the true start to finish races which we've been treated to in F1 this year.

Also, I think the "Rear Wheel Guards" allow for a degree of banging that is not possible on F1 cars.

 

[Westy]

Oh, I still prefer F1 and understand the difference between the two sports. I just really enjoyed the racing towards the end of the race. Sato's defense of his position was brilliant. Newgarden and Hinchcliff's attempts were all gutsy and well thought out. F1, with its DRS, just seems to take away from the spectacle as the passes just seem inevitable, not deserved.

Edit: sorry to stray off topic.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Yeah, Sato was VERY firm with a couple lunges towards the wall. Hard, and fair, driving from everybody in the top 5 really.