Elkhart Lake, WI (Saturday, June 11, 2022) – Takuma Sato (#51 Nurtec ODT) and his Dale Coyne Racing with RWR team will be starting from the 10th row in tomorrow’s Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America after qualifying 19th on Saturday.
Starting: 19th
Round 1 / Group 1:
Best Lap: 1:45.7045
- Sato, who is coming off his best start of the season last weekend at Detroit where he qualified second, went out in Group 1 of the first round of qualifying.
- He registered his fastest lap time on his second lap of the 12-minute session.
- His fastest lap of 1:45.7045 initially placed him third in his group.
- Sato was unable to improve his lap time once he switched to the alternate Firestone tires and he fell to 10th in his group.
- The two-time Indy 500 Champion is making his eighth start on the 4-mile, 14-turn road course this weekend.
- His best start and finish at the famed Elkhart Lake track came in 2018 when he qualified 7th and finished 4th.
- The Japanese driver has five top 10 finishes in seven starts at Road America.
- So far this season, Sato has a best finish of seventh at the GMR Grand Prix and a best start of second in Detroit.
Takuma Sato #51 Nurtec ODT Honda – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
“We had a mixed day today. I think we have a good car on the primary tire but we couldn’t make the most of it on the red tires when it counted in qualifying. So unfortunately, I couldn’t get a good lap in that would have allowed us to make it to the second segment. Despite the mixed weather, we tried a couple of things in final practice, and I think the car is better. I’m more optimistic for the race now than I was after qualifying, so let’s hope we can have a great race tomorrow. It should be an interesting one.”
dalecoyneracing.com 