Causing him to spin out? Sure looked like it, but I know nothing of Indy Car racing. I left right after race ended, so I didn’t hear any of the after talk.
Peace,
mangeorge
I just watched the replay a few times and it looked clean to me. Franchitti moved left while still on the straightaway and with Sato behind him. He came back right a little bit, but not much and that’s when Sato started to come alongside. There was little more than a car width when Sato started the pass, and Franchitti didn’t come down much lower than he already was. Once Sato started to spin, Franchitti drifted up the track a little bit (somewhat off the racing line, so I assume he let off the throttle a tad) so Sato’s car wouldn’t take him out.
I think Franchitti’s real move might have been earlier. The best passing all day was to be close coming out of turn 2 or 4, get a draft, and complete the pass on the straightaway. Sato was in great position to do just that. I kinda wonder if Franchitti let off the throttle just a bit so that Sato would catch him going into turn 1. So Sato’s choice was to either attempt the pass in a bad spot (which he did), or back off a bit to stay in second. But it takes those cars (and their turbocharged engines) a little while to get the revs and the speed back up to maximum. If Sato had backed off, he might have fallen a little too far back and not been able to make the pass before the finish line.
And his name is Dario Franchitti. As you’d probably guess with a name like that, he’s Scottish.
I also watched it again, several times. I couldn’t find a frame-by-frame of the crash, but it looked like Sato could’ve spooked when he got close to Franchitti.
Me? I’d have waited for turn two. 