We have reached the half way point of the team-by-team previews and today will take a look at AJ Foyt Racing.
2013 AJ Foyt Racing Review:
Wins: 1 (Long Beach).
Poles: 1 (Houston 1).
Final Championship Position: 17th (Takuma Sato), 34th (Conor Daly).
2014 Drivers:
Takuma Sato
The Japanese driver was the points leader after the first four rounds of the championship and appeared to be a championship contender after picking up his first career victory at Long Beach, Foyt Racing's first win since 2002, and finishing second at São Paulo. However the former Honda F1 factory driver would go on to score only one top ten in the final fifteen races of the season. Sato is entering his fifth season in IndyCar and second driving for Foyt.
Numbers to Remember: 24 and 17. Twenty-four finishes outside the top twenty in his 68 career IndyCar starts. That's a rate of 35.3% of his starts ending in a finish outside the top twenty. Compare that to 17 career top tens in IndyCar, which is a rate of 25%.
Prediction/Goals: I don't see Sato making it a full season with Foyt. He needs consistent finishes at the front of the field and that has been difficult for Sato since winning the British Formula Three Championship in 2001. He has all the speed in the world to be a contender and Foyt Racing has the equipment to complement that speed but the AJ and Larry's patience is probably getting thin and a string of retirements at the start of 2014 could spell the end of Sato at Foyt.
Martin Plowman
Plowman is coming off winning a world championship in 2013. The British driver won the LMP2 championship in the FIA World Endurance Championship driving for OAK Racing and sharing a drive with former IndyCar driver Bertrand Baguette and Mexican driver Ricardo González which also included the trio taking LMP2 class victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Plowman returns to IndyCar to drive the #41 Alfe Heat Treating Honda in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Indianapolis 500. He made three starts in 2011 driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports at Mid-Ohio, Sonoma and Baltimore.
Number to Remember: 8.9. Plowman's average finish on ovals in twelve Indy Lights oval starts.
Prediction/Goals: Plowman has never made a start in a DW12 chassis but he adapted quickly to LMP2 cars. He won't be a contender for a victory in either Indianapolis race but he will be the top dog for Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year against the likes of Jack Hawksworth, Mikhail Aleshin and Kurt Busch. A top fifteen in each race for Plowman should be his goal and two good results may put him on the top of AJ and Larry Foyt's list of drivers to replace Sato should it come to that point. Note that Plowman does not yet have a deal for the 2014 World Endurance Championship season.
Remember, the first round of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season is the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and can be seen live March 30th at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
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