Takuma Sato is back. IndyCar team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) have announced that the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato will return to the team for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
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IndyCar History
Takuma Sato first joined the American racing series back in 2010 when he raced for KV Racing Technology. From there, his career in IndyCar spanned for a total of twelve years, ending his career racing for Dayle Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing in 2022.
But since then, he’s never really left the sport. In 2023, Sato competed for 5 races with Chip Ganassi Racing. He also took part in last year’s Indy 500 with RLL.
He set the second fastest qualifying speed of all of the Honda-powered drivers in 2024. This marked his 15th time participating in the legendary event that serves as one third of the Triple Crown. It was his sixth Indy 500 with RLL.
“Last year was an incredible experience, reconnecting with the team, and this year, even more familiar faces have joined the effort, which makes this moment even more special and gives me great confidence. I can’t wait to get to work.” – Takuma Sato
Takuma Sato raced for RLL before this too. He first raced for the team back in 2012 before switching to A.J Foyt the following year. But he would return to the fold in 2018 and compete for them until the end of 2021.
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Can Takuma Sato win the Indy 500?
Over his IndyCar career so far, Sato has claimed 6 NTT IndyCar wins. 4 of these came with RLL, including the team’s second Indy 500 win back in 2020 and Takuma’s second Indy 500 win. The first came back in 2017. There was fierce competition on track in both years, including Scott Dixon, Will Power and Pato O’Ward – all of whom are of course still competing this year. On top of that, Alex Palou has since entered the fray and become a three time champion. That’s without even mentioning the seismic forces that are Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden.
But that doesn’t mean anybody should underestimate what Sato is capable of.
“The work ethic he brings, in addition to his attention to detail, adds immeasurable value to our program” – Bobby Rahal.
With twenty six years of racing experience under his belt, including stints in Formula 1 and the Macau Grand Prix, the Japanese driver knows what he’s doing. With only the Indy 500 to focus on and nothing to lose, one of the biggest races on Earth just got even more exciting thanks to the emergence of this dark horse.
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