#ESS VIDEODRIVE DRIVER#

Sato’s (and BAR’s) best F1 season was in 2004 when he claimed his first podium finish in the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis and added seven more top-six finishes.

#ESS VIDEODRIVE DRIVER#

He was appointed third driver for the factory backed BAR-Honda team in 2005 and was promoted to the race team for the traditional season finale at Suzuka, Japan, where he again recorded a top-six finish. His magnificent run of success earned him an opportunity to graduate into F1 with the Honda-powered Jordan team with which he earned his first F1 championship points, appropriately, at the Japanese Grand Prix where he finished a rousing fifth. He also entered the final few rounds of the prestigious British Formula 3 Championship and won the Asian F2000 support race at the Macau Grand Prix.Īfter winning four British F3 races in 2000, Sato dominated the 2001 title-chase with 12 wins and added victories in the Masters of F3 at Zandvoort in Holland and the Macau Grand Prix. In his first full season of racing, in 1999, Sato finished sixth in the competitive EFDA Formula Opel Euroseries. While the top prize was a season of racing in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship, Sato had his eyes set on a broader goal and instead traveled to Europe where he raced firstly in Formula Vauxhall Junior and then Formula Opel. Just over a year later, Sato entered and won Honda’s Suzuka Racing School scholarship. He took his first steps toward that goal in 1996 when he bought his first kart. Takuma Sato, 36, was a gifted bicycle racer in his teens but always aspired toward a career in auto racing.

Ess videodrive