Loss of track time for Sato due to problem with rear end of his SA07

Like the undulating track of the Fuji Speedway, it was a day of ups and downs for SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM. Takuma endured a problem this morning which meant a change of rear end and a considerable loss of running time. After an encouraging start on the time sheets for the team, the rubber went down on the track and the field became more confident driving the new Fuji circuit.

Takuma Sato “I had a mechanical problem during the first session which meant that I was only able to complete two outings this morning. We lost a lot of time necessary for the testing you need for a new circuit and because of this we were forced to rush and cut out some of our programme this afternoon. We had to evaluate the balance on long runs for the different downforce levels as this is very important, but it meant that I was not able to set-up the car as I would have liked to and it was more of a data collecting exercise. Hopefully though, with the work that we managed to complete today, we will be able to set-up the car more competitively and have a better day tomorrow.”

Anthony Davidson “It was a different day for all of us who have not been to the Fuji Speedway before. I enjoyed driving the circuit a lot. It is a big challenge, especially the last sector, and it is a tough one for the engineers to work on as well, finding a good balance between top speed and enough grip around the tricky last sector. I think that we did some good work today with the long run pace and I am pretty happy with the balance on the car.”

Graham Taylor, Sporting Director “Being a new circuit to F1 we had a lot of work to do. We ran through a number of different options which we need to investigate completely this evening. We lost quite a bit of running time with Taku in the first Free Practice session this morning when we had to change the rear end. The circuit conditions changed through out the day and we were chasing that a little bit. Anthony was happier with his balance at the end of the second session this afternoon, certainly happier than Taku is with his, and I think that we have a good deal of work to do.”

Takuma Sato Car 22 (SA07-02)
FP1 Position 17 Fastest Lap Time 1:21.186
FP2 Position 22 Fastest Lap Time 1:21.352

Anthony Davidson Car 23 (SA07-03)
FP1 Position 10 Fastest Lap Time 1:20.601
FP2 Position 20 Fastest Lap Time 1:21.007
T-Car SA07-04