Takuma Sato: Winning Indy 500s and Surfing Couches

“I protected the inside line, which is the shortest way around,” Sato said. “I think that was fair. I would not have blocked him had he tried to go around me on the outside. I don’t know, however, if he would have been successful at that.”

Dixon said: “I could have gone harder to the high side. But I think he would have just run me up the track there anyway, which could have ended with us both in the fence, if not just me.”

Perhaps that would have been true. Sato has a go-for-broke personality that makes him a fan favorite. But he has more than once found himself the victim of his own aggression.

“No attack, no chance, is my motto,” Sato said. In that situation, Sato said, he preferred being in the lead, in danger of running out of fuel, to being Dixon’s pursuer and having to attempt a pass while low on fuel.

Recalling his final-lap crash in the 2011 race while dueling the eventual winner, Dario Franchitti, Sato said going for the win was all that mattered.

“You may face many hurdles in trying to achieve your dreams,” Sato said. “But it is your passion to get what you want that is the key. If you take this passion and use it do whatever it takes to get closer to your dreams, you will be able to attain them.”

He added, “I have faced many hurdles and limitations, but opportunity came to me always when I tried to move forward. Opportunities only come to those who challenge themselves.”

Now, if he can just find an opportunity to conveniently get home again.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/sports/autoracing/indy-500-Takuma-Sato-Dixon.html