Indy 500: Takuma Sato Takes Home the Win as Fernando Alonso Misses His Probable Last Shot at the ‘Triple Crown’

Published 08/24/2020, 11:50 PM EDT

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The coronavirus pandemic that constrained the Indy 500 race to be postponed from its run of the mill Memorial Day weekend date likewise made it be run without fans. It happened for the first time in the 104 editions of the race. It was undoubtedly an odd scene for Takuma Sato as he took the checkered flag under caution with second-place Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal in third place alongside a large number of vacant seats.

There were a lot of accidents during the race. James Davison was the first one. He drew out the principal caution when he hit the divider and his vehicle burst into flames. Then Dalton Kellett was involved in a collision when he hit the wall later. Conor Daly and Oliver Askew also had a big collision.

The biggest collision, however, included Spencer Pigot. He rammed the outside wall during the finishing laps to bring off the alert that viably finished the race. At that point, he slid back over the track and pounded the tires.

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Pigot was taken to the IU Health Methodist Hospital. He is expected to be fine.

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The Indy 500 & Alonso tale

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Fernando Alonso’s ambition to win the Indy 500 on his third endeavor missed the mark as he experienced clutch issues. He was dropped to P21, one lap down at the finish.

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This year, Alonso managed to complete the race with Arrow McLaren SP. It is an enhancement for his first endeavor when a motor issue constrained him to drop out. He began 26th, was running the fifteenth part of the way through the race, and afterward P21 and one lap down all due to that unwavering clutch issue.

Fernando Tweeted: “My first Indy 500 completed! A great experience! When we were already at half point of the comeback (P15 mid-race) we had a clutch failure… so every pit stop from there we had a manual start with mechanics pushing old school! Happy anyway! Thanks Indy”.

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It could be Alonso’s last Indy 500 race for two years as he will be coming back to Renault in Formula 1 next season. F1 reports, Renault manager Cyril Abiteboul says he needs “no distractions” for the Spaniard once he’s back in F1.

The two times F1 champion’s first Indy endeavor was in 2017 when former F1 driver Sato won, yet a motor issue put Alonso out on Lap 179 of 200. In his 2nd attempt, Fernando wasn’t able to qualify. Although, On his third try, Alonso has at last completed the race with Sato winning once more.

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Written by:

Abhay Aggarwal

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Abhay Aggarwal is sports analyst at EssentiallySports. Having joined ES in early 2020, he has over 300 NASCAR, Formula 1, and Tennis articles to his name. Abhay has been an avid motorsports fan for over a decade, and he even attended the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011.
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