2012 Indy 500 Race Thread

**DexDexter** · 31st May 12, 07:26

Originally Posted by wedge

One good year?

In Super Aguri's first year Taku hauled that truck off the back of the grid where it belonged. His starts were so fantastic he would hold up a train of cars within 10 laps. And at the last race of the year in Brazil he finished in the top 10 from the rear of the field.

What about his time at Jordan or BAR? A lot of crashes, 2005 being the worst. It's F1 stuff anyway so a bit off topic.

**wedge** · 1st Jun 12, 14:31

Originally Posted by DexDexter

What about his time at Jordan or BAR? A lot of crashes, 2005 being the worst. It's F1 stuff anyway so a bit off topic.

Paul Tracy suffered from red mist and he had a habit of crashing. Never stopped him being a fan's favourite.

**DBell** · 1st Jun 12, 16:43

Here is an interesting read from Marshall Pruett on how Honda gained so much speed for the race. It seems they have more areas to work with in the engine department than I've seen written in other articles. Chevy and their teams need to stop bitching and get on with the program. This is supposed to be an engine competition. They only have themselves to blame if Honda had a better strategy for the race and did some serious work to upgrade their engine.

INDYCAR: Inside Honda's Indy 500 Victory

The "fast national" rating for Indy was higher than the overnight at 4.34 (6,857,100 viewers), making it the highest rated 500 in 4 years. The final rating will be released later this week and is not expected to change

pressdog.com: ABC Ratings for Indy 500 Improve in National Numbers, Up 7.7% from 2011

**Anubis** · 1st Jun 12, 19:07

I'd be interested to know what sort of ratings the race got in the UK (on Sky). Anyone know?

**jens** · 2nd Jun 12, 11:49

Gutted for Sato. It is soo frustrating to cheer for this guy. He is fast, but most of the time something goes wrong and he never catches a break. Takuma is an aggressive driver and regardless of whether we are trying to (over)analyze his fault in every crash, this aggressive and risky style is bound to get him involved in more accidents, even if he is not at fault. Needless to say, this is already second time this season, when Taku has retired on the final lap from a podium position. Imagine the string of results without those crashes: 3-3-1/2. He could be a championship contender! But he never is, because he is Sato and something is usually bound to happen...

In those moments, when Sato doesn't get involved in a crash, he is a joy to watch. Like that wonderful safety car restart in Brazil a few weeks ago. Or at Indy500 that penultimate lap overtake on Dixon for P2. Sure it gave him extra confidence to "go for it" and make a similar move on the last lap as well. But... Fast, a contender, but the results never come. Story of Sato's career. Sad.