LONG BEACH — Takuma Sato and Katherine Legge have crossed paths throughout their auto racing careers.
The drivers met again Thursday when they were inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame together.
For Sato, it brought back memories of the times they raced against each other and when both were starting their careers.
It began in the Formula E Series in 2014 as teammates, if only for a brief time. They raced against each other in the NTT IndyCar Series. Their next meeting will be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May. Legge will be driving the same car for Dale Coyne Racing that Sato drove in last year’s Indy 500.
“We had a lot of crossover,” Sato said. “Basically the same year, same team.”
Legge said it is probably one of the biggest honors of her career to be inducted into the Walk of Fame with her friend.
“We have been teammates before and we are doing kind of ride swap now. I seem to be following him around or perhaps the other way,” Legge said.
Sato won the first IndyCar Series race of his career at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2013. He was driving for A.J. Foyt Enterprises in the race and started on the second row, in the fourth position.
He took over the lead in the race from Will Power during pit stops on Lap 30 and held on to win. Graham Rahal was second and Justin Wilson was third.
Sato became the first driver from Japan to win the Grand Prix of Long Beach and is the first driver from Japan to be inducted into the Motorsports Walk of Fame.
He remembers how his team was a bit of an underdog in the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2013. A.J.Foyt Enterprises was a single-car team going up against powerhouse teams from Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. But Sato knew how important it was to perform well for the team owned by Foyt, an auto racing and IndyCar Series legend.
“It’s always a pleasure to be in the No. 14 for A.J. Foyt,” Sato said.
Sato also won the Indianapolis 500 twice. The first time was in 2017 driving for Andretti Autosport. He was the first Japanese-born driver to win the Indy 500. He won the Indianapolis 500 again in 2020 driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and became the 20th driver to win the Indy 500 more than once.
He also raced in Formula One from 2002 to 2008, posting one podium finish at the 2004 United States Grand Prix.
He appeared as Sensational Sato in the “Mickey Spring Grand Prix” episode of “Mickey and the Roadster Racers” in 2019.
He is entered in this year’s Indianapolis 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The last time he competed in an IndyCar Series race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach was in 2022. He finished in 16th place driving for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing.
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The Motorsports Walk of Fame was created in 2006 as a way to honor historic contributors to motorsports in Long Beach. Dan Gurney and Phil Hill were the first two inductees into the Walk of Fame, which is located in front of the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment building across from The Pike At Rainbow Harbor entertainment complex on South Pine Avenue.
There have been 35 people recognized on the Walk of Fame, and new members are inducted every year prior to the start of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.