Two-Time Indianapolis 500 Winner Takuma Sato Joins Chip Ganassi Racing As Oval Driver For 2023 NTT IndyCar Series

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato of Tokyo is set to run around in circles for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023.

Sato will compete in the oval races on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule in the No. 11 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing this season. That includes the 107^thIndianapolis 500 on May 28.

Sato is the winner of the 101^st Indianapolis 500 in 2017 for Andretti Autosport. He won the 104^th Indianapolis 500 in 2020 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Sato will drive the No. 11 Honda on the ovals while rookie driver Marcus Armstrong of New Zealand will drive that car on the street and road courses on the schedule.

“What a terrific opportunity to have Takuma Sato drive our No. 11 Honda Indy car on the ovals in 2023,” Chip Ganassi Racing Managing Director Mike Hull said. “He is a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who contributes with the experience of knowing how to win, by matching the strength of his three teammates, which equals four who race as one.

“Chip Ganassi Racing looks forward to the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500.”

The driver from Tokyo joins 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon, 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson and 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou in this year’s Memorial Day Weekend Speed Classic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the other oval races on the schedule.

Sato brings more than two decades of experience racing at the highest level of the sport to the defending Indianapolis 500 winners who have won 14 IndyCar Series championships, including nine across the past 15 seasons of competition.

“First of all, I would like to thank Chip and Mike for helping put this all together. I am extremely excited to join Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2023 season,” Sato said. “The organization has been at the top of our sport for decades and, extremely competitive. Focusing on the oval races is a new chapter for me but I’m thrilled to have the ability to race with team members and teammates that have won the championships and Indianapolis 500 in the past, which is a tremendous advantage.

“I just can’t wait to get started.”

Sato has raced in the IndyCar Series over the past 13 seasons, where he has earned six wins, 14 podiums and 10 pole positions. Sato has made 215 career IndyCar Series starts, the sixth-most among active drivers and the 22nd-most in all-time history.

Prior to his IndyCar career, Sato raced in Formula 1 for seven seasons (2002-08). He earned 44 points with one podium appearance across 90 career series starts. Sato registered a top-10 finish in the Formula 1 points standings in 2004, where he achieved his podium finish at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Sato also won the British Formula 3 championship in 2001, earning 12 wins as well as victories in the Marlboro Masters of F3 at Zandevoort, and the prestigious Macau F3 GP.

Sato is the most recent driver to attain multiple wins in the Indianapolis 500, capturing victories in 2020 and 2017.

Sato’s first victory in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing came after re-claiming the lead with just six laps to go, etching his mark in the history books as the first Japanese driver to ever win the race. Then in 2020, he won the race for the second time after starting from the front row from the third starting position.