Takuma Sato got off on the right foot with his new team A.J. Foyt Racing at the season’s first test session at Sebring International Raceway.

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Takuma Sato, who joined Foyt in 2013, covered the 1.7-mile track in 51.947 seconds, beating Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (52.017 seconds).

“It was nice to get back in the car after the winter break – it felt really good. It was a very solid morning. In the afternoon we were constantly learning. We did lots of miles today so the car was very reliable and we were able to get through most of our program,” Sato said.

“I’m happy that we did some good lap times at the end of the day but it is only testing. Still it’s encouraging and a nice boost for the team. Everyone worked well together so it was a good day,” Sato added.

Team owner A.J. Foyt was content with his team’s performance. “The test went real good for us today. We got Takuma comfortable and he ran down in the 51-second bracket which no one else did. He did a good job,” the legendary IndyCar driver said.

IndyCar Sebring test’s best lap times:
1. Takuma Sato Foyt Dallara-Honda 51.947s
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda 52.017s + 0.070s
3. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 52.153s + 0.206s
4. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 52.322s + 0.375s
5. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda 52.327s + 0.380s
6. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy 52.381s + 0.434s
7. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy 52.410s + 0.463s
8. Graham Rahal Rahal Dallara-Honda 52.413s + 0.466s
9. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda 52.439s + 0.492s
10. Simona de Silvestro KV Dallara-Chevy 52.442s + 0.495s
11. Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda 52.498s + 0.551s
12. AJ Allmendinger Penske Dallara-Chevy 52.618s + 0.671s
13. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy 52.690s + 0.743s

By Dan Mihalascu