Taku Gets Set For Oval Return

After the recent run of road and street courses, Takuma Sato will return to oval action this weekend in the latest round of the IndyCar Series.

It's more than two months since the former F1 racer competed on an oval and Sato will hope to repeat the kind of form that saw him run inside the top three at Iowa back in June at the wheel of the #5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology entry.

While the Iowa race ultimately ended in disappointment after Taku was involved in a misunderstanding with a backmarker while making his way through traffic, the pace shown leaves him in buoyant mood heading to Chicagoland for Saturday's Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil 300.

"Time has passed so quickly and it is hard to believe that we now are going to the final four oval rounds for 2010 season," Taku said. "Racing on ovals was something totally new for me in this my first year in the IndyCar Series, but I enjoyed them and, after experiencing a variety of four ovals in the first half of the season, I now have a much better understanding.

"I am really looking forward to being back on an oval this weekend and my first visit to Chicagoland Speedway."

Sato will again have veteran IndyCar racer Roger Yasukawa acting as his spotter during the race weekend.