NASCAR Cup Series

Takuma Sato shifts into IndyCar Series

Published Mar. 3, 2010 11:41 a.m. ET

foxsports

Takuma Sato's first official testing session on the IndyCar Series had its pluses and minuses.

The 33-year-old ``rookie'' from Japan fared quite well on the track at Alabama's Barber Motorsports Park last week, even posting the sixth-fastest lap. But as a lover of sampling local cuisine, Sato - known as Taku - couldn't find anything but fast food near his hotel in suburban Birmingham.

No barbecue, grits or fried chicken.

That's no trivial matter for the ex-Formula One driver.

``Other than family, he's got two interests in life: food and driving, probably in that order,'' said Matthew Winter, Taku's manager. ``Whenever we go to new places, he always tries the local food.''

The fare has ranged from kangaroo in Australia to wild boar in Hungary. He'll get plenty of chances for new experiences and food in his return to racing on a new circuit after a nearly two-year hiatus.

Sato spent seven years in Formula One and finished eighth in the championship in 2004 on the strength of 10 top-10 finishes. He found himself without a car when Super Aguri, which was backed by Honda, withdrew after just four races in 2008.

Sato and Winter met with other teams at last year's races in Indianapolis and Motegi, Japan. They wound up signing with KV Racing Technology on Feb. 18. Taku said he had little doubt he'd land with a team, but wanted to be picky.

``I've always been communicating with teams,'' he said in fluent English. ``There was always another opportunity, but having a good opportunity is a different story. To me, this is a good challenge. I really appreciate that KV Racing gave me an opportunity for racing here, with this package, which I believe is going to be strong.''

He had few problems navigating the 2.38-mile, 17-turn track at Barber, which hosts its first IndyCar race on April 11, the circuit's third event of the season. The season opens in Sao Paulo on March 14 and continues with a stop in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 28.

Sato zoomed through his fastest lap at 117.937 mph, sixth-best among the 20 drivers. His showing came just days after signing, though he did quietly test for over an hour at Sebring International Raceway on Feb. 15.

Winter figures Sato will have a bigger challenge in adapting to racing on an oval.

``Circuits like this are something that Taku's going to take to like a fish to water. It's just second nature to him,'' the manager said. ``Racing on this type of track is very similar to racing on the European tracks. But when you get to the ovals, he's going to have to sort of go back to Square 1 and start again to recalibrate his mind.

``Speeds are so much higher and it's just a totally different discipline.''

Sato's greatest success came in British Formula 3, where he captured 12 races and won the Class A championship in 2001. Winter thinks his skills will be a nice fit in IndyCar, citing ``the fact that he's now in a series where it's more about the driver and less about whether you happen to be a McLaren or a Ferrari or whatever.

``Sometimes during his career, he's been frustrated with the equipment that he's had,'' the manager said. ``We've had enough of him being in back of the grid, because he's a winning driver.

``He's the most successful Japanese driver of all-time. He's the only Japanese driver to win the British Formula 3 championship. He's accustomed to winning.''

Taku likes what he has seen so far from KV Racing, calling it ``a very nice team'' with ``great potential.'' Just having a full-time ride again is nice, too.

``I'm really happy back in a car, happy back in a fast car,'' he said. ``In new cities, new challenges. I love challenges. It's going to be a lot of learning for me, but that's my challenge. Hopefully very soon we want to be competitive.''