Takuma Sato, A.J. Foyt Racing
The cast: Race engineer – Don Halliday. Race strategists – A.J. Foyt/Larry Foyt. Chief mechanic – Tom Howatt.
Twitter: @TakumaSatoRacer, @AJFoytRacing
The car: No. 14 Honda, ABC Supply Co. primary sponsor
The driver: Turned 37 on Jan. 28. … Grew up in Tokyo, where he lives with his wife and two children in the offseason. Resides in Indianapolis during the season. … Competed in the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship race in China last month with Katherine Legge as teammate at Amlin Aguri. … He is the founder of the charity organization With you Japan, which continues to raise funds for families devastated by the 2011 earthquakes and tsunami.
Season finish: Placed 18th in Verizon IndyCar Series standings, 16 points out of 17th in his second season with A.J. Foyt Racing.
The gist: Aside from the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race with Martin Plowman in the No. 41 entry, the team entered one car in the other 17 races. ... He’s made 86 Verizon IndyCar Series starts in five seasons since moving from Formula One.
Season stats: Sato started with a bang for the second consecutive season by winning the Verizon P1 Award for the opener at St. Petersburg. He led 33 laps and finished seventh. In 2013, he qualified second at St. Pete and placed eighth. … He also earned the pole (his fifth in the series) for the second race of the Belle Isle doubleheader. ... Sato also qualified in the top 10 in three (best of fourth in the finale at Auto Club Speedway) of the six ovals. … He closed the season with fourth- and sixth-place finishes, and posted three of his five top 10s in three of the final five races. That aided in covering a rough middle portion of the season in which Sato recorded six consecutive DNFs because of contact/mechanical/electrical. … Gained a season-high 16 positions relative to his qualifying spot in placing fourth at Sonoma Raceway. ... Led four races for total of 66 laps.
Year over year: 2013 best qualifying first at Houston1 (average 12.6), best finish first at Long Beach (average 16.0). 2014 best qualifying first at St. Petersburg and Belle Isle 2 (12.6 average), best finish fourth at Sonoma (15.5 average).
Video: Takuma Sato reviews his season
He said it: “The team has been working really hard and we had quite a strong start to the season. We didn't quite get the results we wanted. Larry (Foyt) and A.J. (Foyt) have always been on a mission. We learned a lot this season; we've gone through many ups and downs. I think the whole team did a superb job this year."
The chart (below): Looking at how Sato finished relative to his qualifying position:
Click to download the hi-res infographic
