Indianapolis,IN : Sato wins crash-filled Indy 500 on may, Monday 29th 2017

The century of racing in the Indianapolis 500 is filled with drivers who found disappointment, their dreams of winning the iconic race abruptly shattered by crashes, engine failures, botched pit stops and bad luck.

But sometimes there is redemption at the Brickyard, as Takuma Sato can attest.

The 40-year-old Sato won the 101st running of the Indy 500 on Sunday by holding off a charging Helio Castroneves in the final laps, becoming the first Japanese driver to capture the Memorial Day weekend classic.

His victory came five years after Sato tried to win the race with an aggressive last-lap pass of Dario Franchitti that backfired when Sato lost control and slammed into the wall, enabling Franchitti to capture the win.

This time it was Sato who enjoyed the Indy 500 victor’s traditions of drinking from a bottle of milk and kissing the strip of bricks at the start-finish line that’s held over from the old surface of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

As he knelt to smooch the surface, Sato also was wearing the winner’s traditional wreath of flowers around his neck — with a Japanese flag draped over it.


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Sato wins crash-filled Indy 500