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IndyCar
LE MANS: Takuma Sato Joins Oak For Japan, China Rounds
35-year-old Takuma Sato, fresh off of his third season of IZOD IndyCar Series competition, will make his sports car debut at Fuji on Oct. 13-14.
Takuma Sato will add sports car racing to his resume with the OAK Racing team. (Photo: OAK)
With OAK Racing's recent switch to Honda Performance Development power in its OAK/Pescarolo LMP1 prototype, Honda has drafted in its highest profile brand ambassador to share the driving duties in the No. 15 car for the upcoming World Endurance Championship rounds at Fuji, Japan, and Shanghai, China.
35-year-old Takuma Sato, fresh off of his third season of IZOD IndyCar Series competition, will make his sports car debut on October 13-14 on home soil at Fuji, sharing the V8-powered P1 car with former IndyCar driver Bertrand Baguette and sports car ace Dominik Kraihamer.
“Working with OAK Racing is an opportunity that has really excited and motivated me," said Sato, who drove for Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing this season in the Honda-powered No. 15 RLL entry.
"I’ve spent my entire career racing single-seaters and obviously the LMP1 feels different to those, but my initial impressions are very good and I am thrilled by this whole new experience. I’ve known [OAK team manager] Seb [Philippe] for a long time, since he was racing in Japan actually, so it will be great to work with him again and that gives me a lot of confidence in the team."
Sato got his first taste of the Dunlop-shod OAK/Pescarolo-HPD in a private test at Magny-Cours on Thursday, and quickly settled into the driving requirements of a fendered prototype.
“Thursday was only a shakedown of the OAK-HPD LMP1 package but everything went to plan," he said. "As well as the new engine the team has an updated aero package to evaluate, so there will be plenty of work to get through on Friday and then during testing at Fuji on October 10. I’ve got a lot to learn before the race but I am really looking forward to the weekend and seeing the very enthusiastic Japanese fans.
"The team will receive a great following there and it will be fantastic to race in front of my home crowd again.”
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Bahrain
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, and covers the IndyCar Series. Before joining SPEED, Pruett worked in open-wheel racing for 20 years as a mechanic and engineer. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.
35-year-old Takuma Sato, fresh off of his third season of IZOD IndyCar Series competition, will make his sports car debut on October 13-14 on home soil at Fuji, sharing the V8-powered P1 car with former IndyCar driver Bertrand Baguette and sports car ace Dominik Kraihamer.
“Working with OAK Racing is an opportunity that has really excited and motivated me," said Sato, who drove for Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing this season in the Honda-powered No. 15 RLL entry.
"I’ve spent my entire career racing single-seaters and obviously the LMP1 feels different to those, but my initial impressions are very good and I am thrilled by this whole new experience. I’ve known [OAK team manager] Seb [Philippe] for a long time, since he was racing in Japan actually, so it will be great to work with him again and that gives me a lot of confidence in the team."
Sato got his first taste of the Dunlop-shod OAK/Pescarolo-HPD in a private test at Magny-Cours on Thursday, and quickly settled into the driving requirements of a fendered prototype.
“Thursday was only a shakedown of the OAK-HPD LMP1 package but everything went to plan," he said. "As well as the new engine the team has an updated aero package to evaluate, so there will be plenty of work to get through on Friday and then during testing at Fuji on October 10. I’ve got a lot to learn before the race but I am really looking forward to the weekend and seeing the very enthusiastic Japanese fans.
"The team will receive a great following there and it will be fantastic to race in front of my home crowd again.”
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Bahrain
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, and covers the IndyCar Series. Before joining SPEED, Pruett worked in open-wheel racing for 20 years as a mechanic and engineer. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.
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