IndyCar: On this date in 2013 – An unmatchable finish in Sao Paulo

By Asher Fair | May 5, 2019

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - MAY 5: James Hinchcliffe of Canada driver of the #27 Andretti Autosport Dallara Chevrolet crosses the finish line in first place ahead of Takuma Sato of Japan driver of the #14 ABC Supply A. J. Foyt Racing Dallara Honda the IndyCar Series Sao Paulo indy 300 on May 5, 2013 in the streets of Sao Paulo in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /

Six years ago today, one of the most unforgettable and unmatchable finishes in IndyCar history took place on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

One of the recent circuits that IndyCar has recently raced at but likely will not return to, at least not in the near future, is the 11-turn, 2.535-mile (4.080-kilometer) temporary street circuit on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The last time IndyCar raced at this venue was in the 2013 IndyCar season, which was the fourth season of competition at the track. After Team Penske’s Will Power won the race in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons, including in dominant fashion in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, the 2013 race at the track ended in the most unforgettable way.

No matter how hard anyone tries, it will be hard to match what happened on lap 75 this 75-lap race on the afternoon of Sunday, May 5, 2013, especially when it comes to a road or street course race.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Takuma Sato, fresh off his first career IndyCar victory in the previous race on the streets of Long Beach, California just two weeks earlier, was looking to become the first IndyCar driver since to earn his first career victory and follow it up with his second career victory in the next race since A.J. Allmendinger pulled this off in the 2006 Champ Car season.

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Sato was in a great position to pull off this rare feat, as he found himself leading the race for the second time with just 19 laps remaining after leading four laps earlier. With seven laps to go, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden, who was searching for the first victory of his IndyCar career, had a run on Sato, but Sato successfully defended his position.

With five laps to go, Newgarden also had a run on Sato. Sato made more of a blocking move on the inside of Newgarden to prevent him from making the pass heading into turn 11. With four laps to go, Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe passed Newgarden for second place in the same part of the track.

With three laps to go, Hinchcliffe had a run on Sato. Again, Sato laid a block on the inside of Hinchcliffe to prevent him from making the pass heading into turn 11. A similar thing happened at the same part of the track with two laps to go, although Sato’s block was not nearly as blatant.

On the final lap, the same thing that happened with three laps to go happened again, perhaps in an even more blatant, albeit legal, manner. After laying yet another block on Hinchcliffe, Sato appeared to have the race won.

But Hinchcliffe drove into the final corner on Sato’s outside and turned into it slightly before Sato did, allowing him to get up beside him in the turn and take the lead coming out of it. He won the drag race to the checkered flag by just 0.346 seconds.

Here is a video of this epic finish (starting at 2:00:00).

On top of that, Hinchcliffe had not led the race until a few seconds before he took the checkered flag, making him the first driver to win a race after leading only the final lap since the late Dan Wheldon won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 due to the fact that J.R. Hildebrand wrecked while leading the race in the final turn on the final lap.

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Since James Hinchcliffe earned this victory, which was the second victory of his IndyCar career, the only driver who has won a race after leading only the final lap is Graham Rahal, who won the race at Texas Motor Speedway in the 2016 season, which was also an unforgettable race, by just 0.0080 seconds over Hinchcliffe in second place.