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IndyCar: Takuma Sato tops third preseason test at Phoenix

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 28: Takuma Sato of Japan, driver of the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda, celebrates after winning the 101st Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 28, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 28: Takuma Sato of Japan, driver of the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda, celebrates after winning the 101st Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 28, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato topped the third IndyCar preseason test at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

Takuma Sato, who drives the #30 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, topped the speed chart in the third IndyCar test session at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Sato has not driven for the team since the 2012 season, as he spent four seasons driving for A.J. Foyt Enterprises from the 2013 season to the 2016 season and he drove for Andretti Autosport last year.

Sato, 41, topped the speed chart with a fastest lap time around the 1.022-mile tri-oval of 19.3920 seconds (189.728 miles per hour). He also topped the speed chart in the first session yesterday. Graham Rahal, Sato’s teammate who topped the speed chart in the second session yesterday, finished in 11th place in this session.

This test marked the third time during which the IndyCars with the new universal aero kit drove in the same session, with the other two tests of this type so far both taking place yesterday. They are set to do so again tonight in the fourth and final test of the weekend.

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Will Power, who drives the #12 Chevrolet for Team Penske, was the fastest driver of a Chevrolet-powered car in 2nd place. The three Chevrolet drivers who finished in the top eight in the session were all Team Penske drivers.

The session’s top rookie was A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Matheus Leist once again in 9th place in his #4 Chevrolet. He topped Thursday’s rookie test session before finishing in 4th in the first test session yesterday and 10th in the second test session yesterday as the top rookie.

Honda drivers took five of the top seven spots in this session, and Chevrolet drivers took five of the bottom six. So far this weekend, Honda drivers have seemed to have a slight advantage over the Chevrolet drivers, but overall, it has been a fairly even split, which makes sense given the fact that all cars use the same universal aero kit.

Here are the full test results.

RankDriverCar, Team, Engine
1Takuma Sato#30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
2Will Power#12, Team Penske, Chevrolet
3Scott Dixon#9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
4Ryan Hunter-Reay#28, Andretti Autosport, Honda
5Simon Pagenaud#22, Team Penske, Chevrolet
6Sebastien Bourdais#18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
7Ed Jones#10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
8Josef Newgarden#1, Team Penske, Chevrolet
9Matheus Leist#4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
10Alexander Rossi#27, Andretti Autosport, Honda
11Graham Rahal#15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
12Marco Andretti#98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda
13Robert Wickens#6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda
14Pietro Fittipaldi#19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
15Tony Kanaan#14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
16Zach Veach#26, Andretti Autosport, Honda
17Charlie Kimball#23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet
18Spencer Pigot#21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
19Max Chilton#59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet
20Ed Carpenter#20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
21James Hinchcliffe#5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda
22Gabby Chaves#88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet

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The final test session of the weekend is set to take place tonight from 8:00 pm ET to 11:00 pm ET. Will Takuma Sato top the speed charts in this session? Tune in to IndyCar Race Control at this time to find out.