Sato holds off Helio to give Andretti another Indy 500 win

For the second year in a row the 500-mile race was won by a former F1 driver, with Takuma Sato – a veteran of 90 Grands Prix with one podium finish to his name – taking the spoils for the same Andretti squad that had also run Alonso’s vehicle. On the last lap, Sato, who was running in the second position, attempted to pass race leader Dario Franchitti. He gave Andretti Autosport its second consecutive victory and third in the last four years.

Castroneves, looking for a record-tying fourth Indy 500 win, took the lead with six laps to go from Max Chilton.

Takuma Sato held off three-time victor Helio Castroneves to claim a monumental victory for his career, and for Japanese motorsport.

Fortunately, for fans of Alonso’s quest to win all three races in the Triple Crown of Motorsport, he says he’ll be back.

Somehow, someway Dixon came out with just a bum ankle. Jay Howard’s vehicle had bounced off the outside wall, and as it ricocheted across the track, it collected the trailing machine of Dixon.

But Takuma Sato is not like most drivers. I know I bumped Sato’s vehicle a few times. Dixon was taken to the medical center but later walked away and said he was fine. “It’s just going to be a game of patience and trying to make sure I’m ready when it matters”. “We had gotten a little loose but they had dialed it in”. Sato, 40, avoided it all and became the fifth different driver to win the race for Andretti. Dixon plowed into Howard, and Dixon’s vehicle went airborne, flipping over sidefirst into the SAFER Barrier inside the track.

Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso delivered a masterful performance – a masterful first Indianapolis 500 experience – until his Honda engine failed on Lap 179. “The auto was really good at the end of the race”.

Castroneves just avoided being caught up in the incident, driving under Dixon’s vehicle as it was spiraled through the air. “I went to the outside, but the tires were shot, and I would have hit the wall”.

Alonso had been a front-runner for most of the first 150 laps of the race, before two cautions in quick succession shuffled him down the order.

It was a nailbiter with a clinching pass three laps from the end over Helio Castroneves, who was gunning for his fourth Indy 500 ring.

It wouldn’t be one driver joining the four-time winners club. We showed the great result today and I am very proud of it.”.

Alonso led for 27 laps and looked ready to earn a fairytale victory until his Honda engine blew with 21 laps to go, while Rossi finished seventh. When the rest of the field stopped, and when Alexander Rossi’s strong run was sabotaged by another disastrous stop, the pair came out in the lead of the race. But then the first groan echoed across the speedway went Hunter-Reay’s vehicle came to a halt 64 laps from the end, and Kimball’s auto experienced the same fate 21 laps later. Pieces of his auto were left strewn across the track in Turn 2 as his vehicle slid to a halt. With just over a quarter of the race completed, Jay Howard’s vehicle made contact with the outside wall after turn one and slid down into Dixon’s.

Dixon had collided with Jay Howard, who blamed the incident on Hunter-Reay.

“I couldn’t do what he was doing (on the closing laps)”, Castroneves said.

“I don’t blame Honda and if anything else, I blame us for pushing them so hard to give us more power”.

Castroneves, the lone Chevrolet to finish in the top five, had the lead halfway into the race.