F1 Driver Sato jumps to IndyCar's KV Racing Technology

Takuma Sato at the end of the 2008 Formula 1 season when he was in talks with Scuderia Toro Rosso to revive his Formula One career [CTRL-CLICK image to launch YouTube video from Takuma Sato, Tokyo, Japan]. Image Credit: The Telegraph

F1 Driver Sato jumps to IndyCar's KV Racing Technology

Longtime driver associated with Honda in Formula 1, Takuma Sato takes a seat in a Honda-powered Dallara at Jimmy Vasser's KV Racing Technology team for the 2010 season. His introduction to the old chassis came with tests last week at Sebring International Raceway and his debut to IndyCar and the other drivers who will compete in the IndyCar Series will come this next week when the established drivers and teams will test at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

Sato, who speaks English quite well (with a hint of a British accent), brings the prestige of a longtime history of driving with some success in European open-wheel competition. A veteran of seven Formula One seasons, he competed in several European series most notably British Formula 3. Sato placed fourth in the British Formula 3 National Class B championship in 1999, third in Class A in 2000 and won the Class A championship in 2001. His greatest winning achievement came when he posted 16 wins in British Formula 3 over the 2000 and 2001 seasons - this is still the record number of wins in a season for this series.

All Thumbs Up! - KV Racing Technology's Jimmy Vasser and new driver, Takuma Sato at Sebring tests on and behind the wheel of the No. 5 KV Racing Technology Dallara after agreement was reached [CTRL-CLICK image to launch YouTube video]. Image Credit: Autosport.com

This excerpted and edited from Autosport.com -

Sato secures KV IndyCar deal
By Matt Beer - Thursday, February 18th 2010, 04:18 GMT

Takuma Sato will return to racing in the IndyCar Series this year after completing a deal with KV Racing.

The former Formula 1 driver has been on the sidelines since his Super Aguri team folded in mid-2008. He has long been linked with an IndyCar move and visited last year's Indianapolis 500, although he wanted to exhaust any potential options for an F1 comeback before switching his full attention to opportunities in America.
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The 33-year-old Japanese driver contested 92 grands prix for Jordan, BAR and Super Aguri between 2002 and 2008, with his third place in the 2004 United States GP his best F1 result. He is confident that he can be an immediate frontrunner with Jimmy Vasser and Kevin Kalkhoven's team.
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"We are very excited to have been able to put this deal together with Takuma and his group," said Vasser.

"I can't wait to see what I know will be a extremely fast pace by Taku on the road courses and look forward to working with him and getting him up to speed on the ovals. I have no doubt that Taku will be right on the pace immediately.

"Taku's knowledge and experience will be a great asset and his great sense of humour and easy manner will add positive energy to our team."

KV was a race-winner in Champ Car and has been a regular top ten contender since joining the IndyCar Series, although Mario Moraes' third place at Chicagoland last year is its only podium in the championship to date.

The team also ran former HVM driver EJ Viso at Sebring this week, and could return to a two-car line-up for 2010 after only running Moraes for a full campaign last year. KV is also thought likely to field Paul Tracy in a limited programme again.
Reference Here>>

Well, if IndyCar can not develop an open-wheel racing platform for the next generation to replace the Dallara (see DeltaWing Project), they can, at least, sign proven and tested open-wheel F1 race car champion to invigorate this series.

The season opens with the first of four road/street races on March 14, on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil followed by the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida - March 28, the road course at Barber Motosports Park - April 11, and the best street venue in American style open-wheel motorsports ... the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - April 18.

... notes from The EDJE

A Transition Player Places P1 In Final ICS Test

Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds (Birmingham), Alabama - Image Credit: Google Earth via aimsports.com

A Transition Player Places P1 In Final ICS Test

Will Power, a CCWS/IRL sophomore who now drives, at least temporarlly, for the primier established IRL team, Penske Racing, posted the fastest track time among the sixteen drivers working out the pre season kinks in the final test session held at Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama.

In 2008, Power began his IndyCar Series career driving for KV Racing Technology; where he earned his third Indy car victory in Long Beach and scored five top-ten finishes. In addition, the Australian started from the pole in the post-season exhibition event at Surfers Paradise and led the first 16 laps before an accident forced him out of the race.

Here is what the five Transition Players who participated in this final test session had to say:

WILL POWER, who currently replaces Helio Castroneves in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara, effused, "It was good. I haven't spent much time with this team, so I spent the two days gelling with my engineer. We're really working well together now. We found some good things in the car, and we found a car that suits me.

We're happy and we'll be pretty confident going into St. Pete. This is a great track to get fit on because you never stop working. We won't use this much energy getting around St. Pete, so it was a good workout. I was just happy to get back in the car on a road course."

Graham Rahal, driving the No. 02 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara logged in at P5 said, "The car is pretty good. We're learning quite a lot, which is important. I think at the end of the day we're competitive here, but that's not what matters most. What matters most to us is to make sure that when we go to all the road races we've got a good shot at winning, and that's what we're trying to do right now - learn as much as we can. I think we're doing that. We've got a lot more knowledge and understanding than we did before, and that's what we need. We're trying things that we hope we can adapt to other tracks. That's been our focus."

Robert Doornbos - "Bobby D", who drives the No. 06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara and ended the sessions at P6, commented on his sessions with, “I was very happy to drive on a circuit that I am familiar with, where I can use my experience in setting the car up to my liking and getting to know the team better, because it’s a whole new adventure for me.

This morning we did only 10 laps and the gearbox broke, so we had to wait a couple of hours to get it fixed. We just had to stay focused for the afternoon and make the most of it. We had a good setup and we got the car to my liking and did a quick lap time. I think it’s very important to make a good first impression, because the team gave me this chance. They know what I can do. They know that I can win races, and I just need to prove it.”

Justin Wilson, driving the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Dallara, who finished ninth overall felt, “We had our ups and downs today trying to shave off time. We started out with a bit of oversteer and brought the setup closer to where I was comfortable. Unfortunately, we ran out of time just as we were making great progress.”

Mario Moraes, who now will be driving for KV Racing Technology, missed most of the afternoon after the No. 5 KV Racing Technology car sustained damage after contact with the tire barrier shortly before the lunch break. Moraes returned to the track for the final 20 minutes.
(Quotes - ht: autoracingdaily.com)

This excerpted and edited from autosport.com -

Power leads final IndyCar winter test
By Matt Beer
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The Australian's long-term future with Penske remains unclear, as he has been signed as a substitute for Helio Castroneves while the former Indianapolis 500 winner is on trial for tax evasion charges. Castroneves' trial began in Miami three weeks ago.

But Power showed that he has already settled into the Penske Dallara-Honda by lapping in 1m09.4557s today, beating second-placed Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) by 0.3 seconds.
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Newman/Haas/Lanigan duo Graham Rahal and Robert Doornbos completed the top six, while Marco Andretti was Andretti Green Racing's leading representative in seventh. His team-mate Tony Kanaan, who was next up in eighth, played down AGR's low-key performance.

"The great thing about a test is not having the pressure of lap times and who is the fastest," he said. "We are only concerned about figuring out what to do to make the car better overall. We need to understand the changes that we make and learn what or what not to do to in order to make the car better."
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KV Racing's Mario Moraes had starred in the previous test at Homestead last month, but crashed today and missed most of the afternoon session, leaving him 14th. Panther Racing driver Dan Wheldon and Luczo Dragon's rookie Raphael Matos were among the other drivers to have small incidents during the test.
Reference Here>>

Pos - Driver - Team - Time - Gap (* denotes a Transition Player)
1. *Will Power Penske 1m09.4557s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1m09.7776s + 0.3219s
3. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1m09.8401s + 0.3844s
4. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1m09.8904s + 0.4347s
5. *Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1m09.9176s + 0.4619s
6. *Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1m10.0229s + 0.5672s
7. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 1m10.0908s + 0.6351s
8. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 1m10.3072s + 0.8515s
9. *Justin Wilson Dale Coyne 1m10.3177s + 0.8620s
10. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 1m10.3573s + 0.9017s
11. Dan Wheldon Panther 1m10.5267s + 1.0710s
12. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 1m10.6965s + 1.2408s
13. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon 1m10.7051s + 1.2494s
14. *Mario Moraes KV 1m10.7207s + 1.2650s
15. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 1m10.8411s + 1.3854s
16. Ed Carpenter Vision 1m11.5245s + 2.0688s
IRL Timing & Scoring

The test was the second and final official ICS Open Test before the 2009 season begins April 5 with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Several teams still plan to fit in private tests before the championship gets underway.

... notes from The EDJE