Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – 21st Season & 15th Indy 500
Pre-Race Notes – TAKUMA SATO
Round 5 of 16 in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series
DATE: Opening Day — May 12; Pole Day – May 19; Race Day – May 27
QUALIFYING BROADCAST: May 19 from 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET and 4:30-6:30 p.m. and on May 20 from 12:00-6:30
p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring)
RACE BROADCAST: Live on Sunday, May 27 at 11:00 a.m. ET on ABC
RADIO BROADCAST: The race will air on IMS Radio Network, XM channel 94 & Sirius channel 212
TRACK LAYOUT: 2.5-mile oval
RACE LENGTH: 200 laps / 500 miles
2011 WINNER: Dan Wheldon
2011 POLESITTER: Alex Tagliani (2:38.2613 average; 227.472 mph avg.)
SATO’S HIGHEST
OVAL START: Pole at
SATO’S HIGHEST
OVAL FINISH: Fifth at Texas Motor Speedway in 2011 (race 1)
SATO IN INDY: Highest Indy 500 start is 10th (2011) and highest finish is 20th in 2011. Competed in five
F1 races here, including his best start/finish of third place in 2004 – the same year RLL won the Indy 500.
RLL’S TOP START/
FINISH AT INDY: Won the 2004 race from pole with Buddy Rice
NEWS & NOTES:
1 POLE & 1 WIN AT
The 2012 entry will mark the 15th year for the team in the event. Prior to 2012, the team prepared a total of 26 entries for drivers such as
The team’s highest start and finish in the event came in 2004 when Buddy Rice won from pole. In addition, the team has earned a total of four podiums (2nd – Meira 2005; 3rd – Rahal 1994, 1995). The team was in contention to win the race as recent as 2011 when Bertrand Baguette led laps 139-140 and laps 189-197 of the 200 lap race. Had a caution come our before Baguette was forced to pit for a splash of fuel, he might have been the victor. The race ultimately ended under caution when JR Hildebrand crashed on the front straight while in the lead on the final lap.
SATO AT
Sato will compete in his EIGHTH race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and THIRD
SATO IN 2012 – BEST SERIES FINISH TO DATE
Sato led two (St. Petersburg, Long Beach) of the first three races in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season but had yet to see a checkered flag. When he was able to do so, he earned his best career finish to date in the series of third place in
Takuma answers a few questions on his season to date and the upcoming 96th running of the
SATO ON HIS BEST SERIES FINISH TO DATE OF THIRD PLACE IN THE PREVIOUS RACE IN BRAZIL
“I am still just very excited about the result. A big part of that was the relief that we achieved the result we had been waiting on since the beginning of the season. It’s especially great to get the result before coming to the Indy 500. That’s what we needed. It’s a good source of motivation for the team. I was very pleased with the reaction of the fans and media all over the world. It felt very good to share the moment with them and give something back in exchange for their loyalty and support. There were just tons of messages on my website and Twitter.”
SATO ON THE TEAM’S PROGRESS SINCE THE START OF THE SEASON
“It’s a new group of people working together for the first time and we get stronger with every race. There are so many things to learn about each other when new people start working together. The result in
SATO ON HIS THIRD PLACE FINISH IN THE FORMULA ONE RACE AT IMS IN 2004
“Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a special place. When I first came to the Indy 500, I already had a special memory of the place from 2004 when I finished on the podium. That was a great day. It wasn’t an easy finish. At one stage, in the middle of the race, we were at the back of the grid. Every time I come back to Indy I think of that memory. It was very special and now coming for the Indy 500 – there are no words to describe how special it is. The event is always very impressive.”
SATO ON THE INDY 500 AND HIS FIRST MEMORIES OF THE RACE
“The 2010 race was my first experience at the Indy 500 and it is just a massive event with such a large group of spectators. I had never raced in front of such a large crowd. It was very impressive. To go through the weeks of practice, then qualifying and the media tour and all of the things was exciting. The build up is just unbelievable. Then on race day, the events before the start are very impressive. It was an exciting moment.
“All over the world, everybody knows about the Indy 500. It’s such an iconic event. I saw it a couple of times on TV as a kid in
ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO WILL WATCH THE RACE
“Gaora network will air the race live in
SATO ON THE DW 12 OVAL PACKAGE AND PROGRESS SINCE THE IMS TEST IN APRIL
“Because the car is brand new, the test we had at the
SATO ON WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN THE INDY 500
“It would mean a lot to win the Indy 500! I haven’t won an IndyCar race yet so any win would be special but winning the Indy 500 would be even more so because it is such an iconic event. I can’t imagine how it would be to win. Certainly that is the ultimate goal and what we will race for.”
– RLL –