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Birmingham, Alabama. Takuma Sato’s first official testing session in the IndyCar Series had its pluses and minuses.

The 33-year-old rookie from Japan fared quite well on the track at Alabama’s Barber Motorsports Park, even posting the sixth-fastest lap. However, as a lover of sampling local cuisine, Sato couldn’t find anything but fast food near his hotel in suburban Birmingham.

No barbecue, grits or fried chicken. That is no trivial matter for the ex-Formula One driver.

“Other than family, he’s got two interests in life: food and driving, probably in that order,” said Matthew Winter, Sato’s manager. “Whenever we go to new places, he always tries the local food.”

The fare has ranged from kangaroo in Australia to wild boar in Hungary. He will have plenty of chances for new experiences and food in his return to racing on a new circuit after a nearly two-year hiatus.

Sato spent seven years in Formula One and finished eighth in the championship in 2004 on the strength of 10 top-10 finishes. He found himself without a car when Super Aguri, which was backed by Honda, withdrew after four races in 2008.

Sato and Winter met with other teams at last year’s races in Indianapolis and Motegi, Japan. They wound up signing with KV Racing Technology on Feb. 18.

“I’ve always been communicating with teams,” Sato said in fluent English. “There was always another opportunity, but having a good opportunity is a different story. To me, this is a good challenge. I really appreciate that KV Racing gave me an opportunity for racing here, with this package, which I believe is going to be strong.”

He had few problems navigating the 3.8-kilometer, 17-turn track at Barber, which hosts its first IndyCar race on April 11, the circuit’s third event of the season. The season opens in Sao Paulo on March 14 and continues with a stop in St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 28.

Sato zoomed through his fastest lap at 190 km/h, sixth among the 20 drivers. His showing came just days after signing.

Winter believes Sato will have a bigger challenge in adapting to racing on an oval.

“Circuits like this are something that Taku’s going to take to like a fish to water. It’s just second nature to him,” he said. “Racing on this type of track is very similar to racing on the European tracks. But when you get to the ovals, he’s going to have to sort of go back to Square 1 and start again to recalibrate his mind.

“Speeds are so much higher and it’s just a totally different discipline,” Winter said.

Motor Racing

Associated Press