Sato hammers Turn 1 wall at Indy test

Takuma Sato has been among the fastest drivers at the Indy Open Test, running third on Wednesday and improving to second Thursday morning during the high-boost session where qualifying simulation runs were being performed. However, the former Indy winner hit a setback by becoming the second driver to strike the Turn 1 wall during the two-day test.

Just 15 minutes after Arrow McLaren/Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson hit the Turn 1 wall with the right side of his car which caused a modest amount of damage, Sato flew through the corner, spun, and smashed the left side of his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car, which went on to rotate and make more contact with the wall before stopping in Turn 2.

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The rear of the No. 75 Honda was battered and leaking, which required the AMR Safety Team to apply a large quantity of oil-dry to the section of the track where the car came to a rest. Unlike Larson, Sato didn’t climb from the car in a quick manner; he waited more than a minute to get out and appeared to need a few moments before slowly walking away and observing the damage that was done to the car.

"Lost it," Sato said. "My body is fine."

Sato’s lap of 232.565mph earlier today stood as the best no-tow lap in the field, which was just shy of the tow-assisted 232.686mph produced by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin that leads overall. Sato was seen and released to drive by IndyCar Medical.