New champion Takuma Sato is no stranger to IndyCar or the Indianapolis 500. He's been a full-time driver in the series since 2010, and yesterday's win was his eighth start in the 500.
Here are some other factoids about the 40-year old driver:
- Sato had never finished better than 13th in his previous seven Indy 500s. However, he was P2 when the white flag came in 2012, but his move to pass Dario Franchitti resulted in a crash.
- Sato had five career podiums entering yesterday, with his only previous IndyCar win coming in Long Beach in 2013.
- He has never finished better than 13th in points (2011), but is currently third thanks to the boost from double-points with his win yesterday.
- Raced four full-time seasons in Formula One, and appeared in at least one F1 race in every season from 2002-2008. His career-best finish was third, right here in Indianapolis in the 2004 U.S. Grand Prix.
- He learned English when he came over to England in the late 1990s to race in British Formula Three. He was the 2001 champion of the series.
- He's an avid cyclist, and is married with two children.