Miyamoto Shigeru is thirty-six years old this year. In the Japanese industry, which highly values seniority and hierarchy, he doesn't really count as a big shot.
That is precisely why he was dispatched to China's Huasi Sports as a technical support staff for the Honda Racing Corporation.
But twelve years ago, Miyamoto Shigeru witnessed the most talented driver Japan has ever seen at the Honda Suzuka Racing School, a man named Sato Takuma.
If you look at his F1 record alone, Sato Takuma seems quite average. Even with podium finishes added in, he barely reaches the level of a mid-tier driver.
The most lasting impression of his career, perhaps, is his frequent misfortune with engine blowouts and the infamous incident where he rear-ended the seven-time champion Schumacher, earning the angry helmet-slapping by the King of Cars, thus earning him the nickname "Cylinder Explosion King."
