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So what, you might ask, has got the normally
level headed, cool, calm and collected Lotus
IndyCar driver Takuma Sato in a spin? Well it's
quite simple. After more than 10 years in
professional motorsport racing and 90 Formula 1
Grand Prix starts, this weekend sees Taku take
on the might of oval racing for the very first
time at the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 in Kansas.
But what's so hard about driving round and round
in circles, you might also ask? It sounds like a
sat navs dream. However it's not as
straight-forward (excuse the pun) as it might
seem. Taku will have to complete 200 laps of the
famous 1.5 mile Kansas track totaling 300 miles
in all, and when you think about it, that's an
awful lot of left hand turns.
As if the numbers alone weren't enough to send
even the most level of heads spinning, the Road
Runner Turbo Indy 300 is well known in the
IndyCar world as being fiercely contested, even
now the 2004 and 2005 races remain in the top 10
of closest finishes for the series.
Taku has taken this new challenge seriously and
recruited the help of seasoned pro and multiple
oval track winner Jimmy Vasser. The former
champion and co-team owner of Lotus Racing's
partners, KV Racing Team (KVRT) worked with Taku
on a pre-race testing session earlier this week.
With Vasser's assistance and strong KVRT oval
setups, Taku is expected to put in a solid
performance on the fast Kansas track in the No.
5 Lotus.
Commenting on the race ahead, Taku said: "I feel
comfortable, confident and excited about this
new challenge. The Director of Lotus Motorsport,
Claudio Berro has given me some great advice, he
told me to turn left and left again and keep
turning left faster than anyone else!"
Following a successful practice session on
Wednesday, Director of Lotus Motorsport, Claudio
Berro said: "We've already had a lot of new
experiences this season and we're eager to take
on this one. I am pleased with our performance
during the practice session and look forward to
Saturday's race in what has already been an
exciting season for the Lotus IndyCar team."
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