IndyCar: Takuma Sato tipped to return to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2021
By Asher Fair
Takuma Sato is in a contract year with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, but he is expected to return for the 2021 IndyCar season.
The first time Takuma Sato won an Indianapolis 500, he ended up switching teams at the end of the IndyCar season. But don’t expect that to be the case the second time around.
Sato, who became the 20th driver to win the Indy 500 multiple times back in August after winning the race for the first time three years ago, is in the midst of a career year with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, his fourth season with the team and his third in a row dating back to 2018 after he left Andretti Autosport after just one year.
He reunited with the team in the 2018 season after having driven for them in one season back in 2012, and while the pen hasn’t yet been put to the paper, it appears that this relationship will continue into 2021.
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Asked if the 43-year-old Japanese driver will be back alongside Graham Rahal, who is already under contract through 2023, at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing behind the wheel of the #30 Honda next year, team co-owner Mike Lanigan told Beyond the Flag that the deal is being worked on right now and that they are hopeful to finish that off in the near future.
“Yes,” Lanigan said. “We are very hopeful that he will be back. We haven’t finished that off yet, but we’re working on that as we speak.”
Sato sits in seventh place in the championship standings with three races remaining on the 14-race 2020 IndyCar schedule, despite the fact that he missed the season opener at Texas Motor Speedway after a crash in qualifying. He best finish in the standings in 10 previous seasons is eighth in 2017.
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He recorded seven top 10 finishes in his first eight starts of the year, including a second place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway just six days after he won the 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.