After watching his drivers sweep the front row in Saturday’s qualifications last weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, NTT IndyCar Series team co-owner Bobby Rahal knew it would be tough to pull off a 1-2 finish in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
That was evident early on when the team owner’s 30-year-old son, Graham, had an electronic issue that would eventually cause him to pull the car off course after completing 55 of the 90 laps in the race when his car shut off on him.
After attempting to fix the car and reboot the computer, it wasn’t enough to keep Rahal from a 23rd place finish.
Rahal’s other driver, however, started on the pole and stayed out front for 74 of the 90 laps in the race as Takuma Sato scored the fourth NTT IndyCar Series victory of his career in impressive fashion.
Sato led the final 42 laps.
Among the first to greet the 42-year-old Japanese driver in victory lane was Bobby Rahal.
“All weekend, Takuma drove really well,” Rahal told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “I was up top watching him. The speed he was carrying through the hairpin was fantastic. He made a little mistake at the end when the drove off the course in Turn 8 or 9, but luckily that didn’t cost us.
“Takuma drove a great race. The crew did a really good job and the strategy was great.
“I think you would call that a pretty dominant victory. In the end, you have to know how to drive one of these things.
“Takuma, right from the word go, is the man.”
It was also a day of firsts for Piers Phillips, who scored his first NTT IndyCar Series win at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing after winning races at Arrow Schmidt Peterson before this season. Phillips joined RLLR in November as president of the race team.
“That’s what I came here for,” Phillips told NTT INDYCAR Mobile after Sato won the race. “What a great day, perfect execution on Saturday and a flawless drive today by Takuma. He did a great, awesome job.
“Takuma has been really good. He has been on point. He feels at home. He executed. Happy Days.”
Eddie Jones is Sato’s race engineer and has been created a strong bond with the driver from Tokyo.
“Takuma is one of the best in the world and he just showed that you don’t necessarily slow down with age,” Jones said. “This car certainly doesn’t.
“He is absolutely brilliant.
“It was a terrific performance today.”
Sato is a former Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach winner, driving to victory in 2013 when he was with AJ Foyt Racing. He will attempt to win his second race on the streets of Long Beach in Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Practice at Long Beach begins Friday with 45-minute sessions that start at 1 and 5 p.m. ET. A third practice is Saturday at noon. All NTT IndyCar Series practice sessions stream live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold.
NTT P1 Award qualifying begins at 2:45 p.m. Saturday and airs live on NBCSN and INDYCAR Pass. Coverage of the 85-lap race on the 1.968-mile temporary street circuit commences at 4 p.m. Sunday on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.