Difficult Malaysian race for Super Aguri
In the searing heat and extreme humidity at the Sepang International Circuit today, Super Aguri F1 Team drivers Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson both took the chequered flag to complete the 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix. After an extremely demanding race, Takuma came home in 13th position, whilst team-mate Anthony crossed the finish line in 16th place.
Takuma Sato “I made a good start. There was so much going on and a lot of cars were side-by-side going into Turn One and Turn Two and in the concertina my front nose was damaged and my performance was compromised. Into Turn Four I went side-by-side with the Toro Rosso’s and I was left with no where to go, so I was pushed off onto the gravel and I lost a lot of places. I overtook some cars, which was an exciting moment, and then I was having a good race. We then lost a few seconds in the second pitstop, so I believe that we could have finished in a higher position, however, I think it was a positive result.”
Anthony Davidson “It was a tough race for me after fighting off the ‘flu all week. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I'm happy that I got to the end. I kept it clean this time on the first lap and got a good start and a really good first lap. But then I struggled with the car balance in the first stint especially and I got a lot of understeer following other cars, so that's something to work on. There was a surprisingly low grip level throughout the whole race and it never really came up for me so I found that a struggle. I still made a few rookie errors, but they can be ironed out and today’s result is definitely a lot more positive than 2 weeks ago, so I'm feeling quite happy with my day's work.”
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal “It was a very difficult race for the team. The SA07’s reliability is very good, but not our race pace. Unfortunately Taku lost several places during the first lap, but Anthony made a very good start. I am happy to have both cars finish the race with no issues, however we made one pitstop mistake with Taku. The drivers did a good job today and now we shall work on our performance next Friday for the Bahrain Grand Prix.”
