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Dixon ‘should have been more aggressive’ with Sato in Indy 500 – IndyCar

Scott Dixon says he should have been “more aggressive” with IndyCar rival Takuma Sato for victory in the Indianapolis 500, having spent the latter stages on a lean fuel mix.

Sato passed Dixon after the final round of pitstops, holding his position at the head of the field as Dixon cautiously probed around Sato for a way back in front.

But although Sato was resolute in defence, Dixon was also managing fuel mileage to make it until the end of the race.

Spencer Pigot then crashed with five laps to go, hitting the pit-in attenuator at high speed to bring out a caution and neutralise the race, with Sato taking his second Indy 500 victory.

Five-time IndyCar champion Dixon said after the race that he “can’t see” how Sato would not run out of fuel at the pace he was running in the lead had the race stayed green.

But

Automotive

by dul sanchez
September 7, 2020

Sato: Indy 500 win for Rahal “mission completed” after 2012 near-miss – IndyCar

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato says his victory in this year’s race with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was “mission completed” after his near-miss with the same team in 2012.

The ex-Formula 1 driver, who previously won the Indy 500 with Andretti Autosport in 2017, was running ahead of Scott Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing car and team-mate Graham Rahal – son of team founder Bobby – when a heavy crash for the third RLL entry driven by Spencer Pigot exiting Turn 4 caused the race to finish under caution.

Sato admitted afterwards that while his “personal ambition was achieved in 2017”, it didn’t wholly make up for the ending to the 2012 race when his attempt to pass Dario Franchitti on the final lap at Turn 1 ended in a crash.

Sato felt he had “disappointed” team co-owners Bobby Rahal, David Letterman and Mike Lanigan, and was satisfied that he

Automotive

by dul sanchez
September 7, 2020

Dixon “can’t see” how Sato would have finished Indy 500 under green – IndyCar

Scott Dixon expressed doubt that 2020 Indianapolis 500 race winner Takuma Sato had enough fuel to go the distance if the race had run green until the finish.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Sato, who previously won the 500 in 2017, claimed his second victory under caution after Spencer Pigot crashed heavily into the pitwall attenuator exiting Turn 4 with five laps remaining.

Sato had passed long-time leader Dixon in the final stint, and repeatedly defended his position before pulling away in the closing stages.

He had a one-second advantage when the yellow flags flew for Pigot’s crash, but despite expectations of a red flag, race officials decided to allow the race to play out under caution.

Having led over half the race, Dixon admitted that defeat was “a hard one to swallow” as his long wait for a second 500 win to add to his solitary triumph in 2008 continues.

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by dul sanchez
September 7, 2020

Lapped Alonso “could not achieve anything more” in Indy 500 after clutch issue – IndyCar

Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso said “we could not achieve anything more” than a lapped 21st place in the Indianapolis 500 after losing his clutch in the pits.

The Arrow McLaren SP driver started a lowly 26th after a crash in practice and went off-strategy early in the race following a caution for James Davison’s exploded right-front brake, but soon went back on schedule with the rest of the field under the second caution for Marcus Ericsson’s Turn 1 crash.

Alonso struggled with oversteer in the opening phase of the race and was trailing at the end of the lead lap, just ahead of leader Scott Dixon, prior to another caution for Dalton Kellett’s Turn 3 crash.

But clutch problems in his pitstops meant he was unable to take advantage of his reprieve and was trapped one lap down for the remainder of the race, which was won

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by dul sanchez
September 7, 2020

Scott Dixon beats Takuma Sato at Gateway in reverse finish of Indy 500

Ken Roberts, Associated Press
Published 11:06 p.m. ET Aug. 29, 2020

Madison, Ill. — Scott Dixon and Takuma Sato repeated their 20-lap shootout from the Indianapolis 500 a week ago, with Dixon reversing the finishing order Saturday by winning at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis.

Sato held off Dixon last Sunday for his second Indy 500 victory in four years. Dixon had 20 laps to chase Sato down, but a late caution ended the race under yellow.

At Gateway, Dixon took the lead by first beating Pato O’Ward out of the pits and then cycled to the front when Sato made his stop with 25 laps remaining. Sato returned to the track in third, passed O’Ward with a bold outside move then set his sights

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by dul sanchez
September 7, 2020

Alonso provided “two-way exchange” to help Arrow McLaren SP at Indy 500

Double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso’s previous Indianapolis 500 experience provided a “two-way exchange” within the Arrow McLaren SP team to help improve set-up, according to Robert Wickens.

With Alonso returning to the Brickyard this year for this third attempt at the Indy 500, aiming to secure the triple crown of motorsport, he teamed up with Arrow McLaren SP as the third driver alongside regulars Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew.

Given O’Ward failed to qualify for last year’s Indy 500, missing out alongside Alonso, while Askew was a rookie, it meant he came into the race as the team’s most experienced driver at the event having made his debut in 2017.

As a result, Wickens says Alonso provided valuable set-up feedback to the team from his previous experiences, while O’Ward and Askew could offer insight racing with the aeroscreen.

“He has a lot of useful experience in motorsports, even

Automotive

by dul sanchez
September 7, 2020

Another F1 winner’s Indy 500 challenge

Like Fernando Alonso, Johnny Herbert tried to find success in America’s greatest race following wins in Formula 1 – as he told us in the 9 May 2002 issue of Autosport magazine – but things didn’t go to plan

Strange, isn’t it, how we take for granted that anyone operating at the top level of their chosen sport has a passion for their endeavours, yet when they fall off the pedestal we assume they will just jack it in and live off the fruits of their successes?

Johnny Herbert is different. Excluded from Formula 1 after two barren years (barring that remarkable win at the Nurburgring in 1999) with Stewart/Jaguar, he could have slipped comfortably into at least semi-retirement.

Grand Prix Gold: 1999 European GP

But he was enthusiastic enough to swallow his pride and take up a test

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by dul sanchez
September 6, 2020

Indy Pro 2000 driver Braden Eves posts an injury update from hospital

After being hurt in a frightening crash Thursday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Braden Eves tweeted a videotaped injury update from his bed at Methodist Hospital.

The Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Indy GP ended under caution after 18 laps when Eves’ No. 1 Exclusive Autosport Tatuus PM-18 flipped in Turn 11 and landed on its roll hoop.

Eves’ team said the driver was awake, alert and stable after being extricated from the car and taken to the infield care center. He then was transported to the hospital and kept overnight.

Eves said he would need a few months to recover from fractures above his right eye and a couple of vertebrae in his neck.

Wanted to give you guys a little health update after my crash yesterday, I’m going to need a few months to recover, I fractured a couple vertebrae in my neck, as well as

Automotive

by dul sanchez
September 5, 2020

Newgarden “cautiously optimistic” about Indy 500 prospects – IndyCar

Defending IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden believes Team Penske will be a contender for the win on Sunday – but is wary of putting too much stock in its Carb Day performance.

Newgarden will start 13th, having outqualified his three Indy 500-winning team-mates Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves, and in Friday’s two-hour session he clocked the seventh best speed – again as top Penske runner.

He said afterwards: “I wanted to almost go back to the garage after 30 minutes and just leave the car the way it was. It felt really good. Carb Day is one of those days where if you car feels good, you almost don’t want to use it up. If it doesn’t feel good, you’re going to use the whole session.

“I feel confident [but] you can’t go in with too much confidence. You have to be cautious. [We were] trying to make sure

Automotive

by dul sanchez
September 5, 2020

Road to Indy Set for Standalone Triple-Headers

With the oval track portion of the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires season now in the books, both the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship will return to road course action this week. The triple-header Cooper Tires Indy Grand Prix will take place on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix circuit in Speedway, Ind.

The action will take place this Thursday and Friday, September 3-4, alongside a pair of races for the Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup, which, in common with the Road to Indy, is administered by Andersen Promotions.

DeFrancesco Returns to his Roots
After a standout karting career followed by five years of racing cars both in Europe and Asia, Devlin DeFrancesco, from Toronto, Ont., Canada, has switched his focus toward a future in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The 20-year-old Italian-Canadian has joined Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport

Automotive

by dul sanchez
September 3, 2020