New Rain Master Misses Out On First Win

[Mark H]

For most of yesterday’s Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 it looked like Takuma Sato was going to take his first ever IndyCar victory, but his strategy gamble sadly didn’t pay off. He crossed the line in eighth, earning 24 valuable points.

 

 

Think Brazil, think tanning oil, caipirinhas, and as little clothing as possible. Sao Paulo had different ideas, though, when torrential rain on Sunday meant not even the TV cameras could pick out the action, let alone the spray-inflicted drivers. This summoned the red flags and the race was postponed till Monday, which was still pretty damp.

 

With just one hour 19 minutes of the race left to run, the order was resumed from Sunday, with Taku-san P3 having started a season-high tenth, and KV Racing Technology-Lotus team-mates EJ Viso 11th and local hero Tony Kanaan 26th. The team had rebuilt the Brazilian’s car during the red flag period, after an accident left him with a smashed ride and an injured left hand.

 

Come Monday, Sato was straight on the case, passing Ryan Briscoe for second place on Lap 5 and, after a caution period, stealing the lead from Will Power when the Penske driver pitted. The Japanese racer, who’s in his second season of IndyCar, led the next 23 laps, the first of his career. But he was gambling with his fuel strategy. With the race shortened to 55 laps, the team were hoping for enough yellow flag periods to let them save sufficient fuel not to require a pitstop. But, after the mid-race yellow which saw Power and the majority of other drivers pit, the flags never came out again. Flat-out, Sato’s green and yellow KVRT-Lotus became thirsty.

 

As Marco Andretti and Viso wrestled for second - which resulted in the latter receiving a blocking penalty - Taku was able to pull away in the lead. But a lack of cautions meant he had to pit on Lap 49, surrendering victory to Power.

 

Taku settled for eighth, while EJ came an unlucky 13th, and Kanaan bounced back from a nine-lap deficit to take 22nd and 12 points - a real achievement considering he was in the medical centre for most of Sunday. Kannan is now sixth in the championship with 99 points, Sato tenth with 80, and Viso 24th on 51.

 

Commenting on the race Takuma Sato said: “We came to this race expecting to be competitive, but after practice and qualifying, it was clear that we weren’t at the top level in dry conditions. However, on Sunday, even though I have never driven the car in wet conditions and never used the wet tire, I was immediately comfortable. I really enjoyed the race. Every time we had a restart I was able to gain positions and overtaking the two Penske cars was great. Once I got in the lead I was able to control the pace and was saving fuel massively. However, in the end our strategy did not work and in hindsight we should have pitted for fuel during the final caution because we were not in a position to take a gamble. It was a shame we did not make it, but I want to thank the entire team for all their hard work this weekend.”

 

KVRT-Lotus Team Principal Jimmy Vasser, said: “Taku drove like a champion today. He earned the title as the new rain master. Unfortunately, the team made the wrong call. At the time we felt there was a high probability there would be at least one more yellow, which is all we needed to finish the race. However, at the end of the day we made the wrong call. Taku showed today that his first win is not far away.”

 

Director of Group Lotus Motorsport Claudio Berro said: “We might not have the results to show for it, but Sao Paulo was a very strong outing for the KVRT Lotus team. Taku’s wet weather skills were riveting to watch and with a different strategy he could have won. But that’s motor racing. EJ drove well too, and we’re all relieved that Tony was able to compete at the restart of his home race. The team did a great job to get his car ready. Next stop, it’s the big one, the Indy 500, and a race with the Lotus marque stamped in its history books. We hope to achieve a deserving result there.”

 

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