Over 30 Minutes of Tora Takagi Being a Menace in IndyCar (CART + IRL)

Tora Takagi raced in CART from 2001-2002 and in the IRL from 2003-2004 with significant backing from Toyota. Toyota withdrew from CART after the 2002 season and entered the IRL in the 2003 season, meaning Takagi switched from the formerly prestigious open wheel series to the oval-only IRL series

Along the way, Tora built up a reputation among the paddock and from fans for causing issues on the track. His reputation damaging weekend in Toronto 2001 stands out as one of the worst individual performances I've ever seen from a driver (   • Tora Takagi Wrecks 3 Drivers In 15 Laps, P...  )

I do have to give him a shoutout for a pretty courageous performance in the late stages of 2002. Takagi was involved in a horrific crash at Surfers Paradise that left him hospitalized (   • 2002 CART Surfers Paradise - Horrible Cras...  . One week later and barely able to move, Takagi decided he would race at Fontana despite the significant pain that he was in. He was a braver man than I am

It is worth noting that nothing is included from the 2004 season. Two reasons for this - 1) he had a pretty mistake-free season, which could have been aided by 2) Mo Nunn racing was brutally slow in 2004

People seem to have differing views on Takagi, but the talent never seemed to match the results, and had a tendency to put some people in the wall along the way

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Timestamps
0:00 '01 Long Beach
1:07 '01 Nazareth
2:05 '01 Milwaukee
3:25 '01 Portland
5:10 '01 Toronto
8:18 '01 Mid-Ohio
9:20 '01 Road America
10:33 '01 Vancouver
11:47 '01 Lausitz
12:50 '01 Rockingham
14:14 '02 Monterrey
14:36 '02 Motegi
15:28 '02 Milwaukee
16:41 '02 Laguna Seca
17:25 '02 Portland
20:04 '02 Cleveland
21:47 '02 Vancouver
22:54 '02 Mid-Ohio
24:01 '02 Denver
25:10 '03 Phoenix
26:19 '03 Motegi
26:49 '03 Texas 1
29:18 '03 Pikes Peak (update on Texas 1)

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