Defending Champ Sato Crashes Out Of Indy 500

Chicago, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th May, 2018 ) :Defending champion Takuma Sato of Japan crashed out of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday in a turn-four tangle that brought out the first caution flag of the day.

Sato, who held off Helio Castroneves to become the first Japanese winner of America's fabled race in 2017, ran up the back of James Davison, who was running well off the pace. Sato emerged uninjured, but said he couldn't have avoided Davison -- who had started 19th on the grid and had slumped to 27th by the 48th lap, when Sato found himself unable to get by the slow-moving vehicle.

"Looked like too much closing speed," Sato said, adding that by the time he realized he was on a collision course "I couldn't back off everything. I even hit the brakes. "Just once you get an air pocket like that it just sucks you into it," Sato said.

"(It's a) really unfortunate situation for both of us. I really feel sorry for the team and fans and supporters. "I couldn't avoid it." Sato, who won driving for Andretti Autosport last year, was piloting a Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car this season.