Takuma Sato is returning to race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan for the third straight Indianapolis 500, the team announced Tuesday.
Sato, a two-time Indy 500 champion in 2017 and 2020, will look to qualify for his 17th straight Indy 500 in May. Sato will drive RLL’s No. 75 Honda with AMADA America, a machine tool manufacturer and sheet metal supplier, as the car’s primary sponsor.
Sato last raced full-time in IndyCar in 2022, when he finished 19th in the series with Dale Coyne Racing. He has finished seventh, 14th and ninth in his three Indy 500 starts with RLL, where he raced full-time in 2012 and from 2018 to 2021, including during his 2020 Indy 500 victory. Four of Sato’s six career IndyCar wins have come with RLL.
Last year, Sato led 51 of the first 88 laps in the Indy 500. A pit stop error dropped him back in the race, as he finished ninth while Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou won his first Indy 500. Sato will join Graham Rahal, Louis Foster and Mick Schumacher as teammates for this year’s race.
Sato’s inclusion in the race bumps the known Indy 500 entry number to 31. Andretti Global plans to run a fourth car in the race, as team principal Ron Ruzewski told IndyStar that a decision on who’s driving said car is set to be finalized this week. The status of Prema Racing, which had two full-time entries in IndyCar last year (including Indy 500 pole winner Robert Shwartzman), is unknown.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Takuma Sato returns to Indy 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
