Takuma Sato: “I was able to push hard and clocked some decent lap times”
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Northamptonshire, UK
Jul 08, 2007
Super Aguri F1
2007 BRITISH GRAND PRIX – RACE
TAKUMA SATO Car No: 22 (SA07-04)
Position 14 No: of Laps 57 Fastest Lap Time 1:23.413
ANTHONY DAVIDSON Car No: 23 (SA07-02)
Position DNF No: of Laps 35 Fastest Lap Time 1:24.144
T-Car SA02-03
Weather Warm and sunny (33.8% - 45.2% humidity)
Air Temperature 21.2°C minimum, 23.4°C maximum
Track Temperature 46.5°C minimum, 37.1°C maximum
It was not the British Grand Prix weekend that the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM was hoping for. Anthony Davidson suffered a mechanical issue which forced the team to retire him on lap 35 of the race. Takuma struggled to find pace in his SA07 from the start, however he took the chequered flag in 14th position today.
Takuma Sato
“I struggled a lot with high-speed understeer due to the fact that we changed to the T-car chassis. Obviously as I started from the pits there was no lap to the grid, so we had to rely on the base set-up of the car. Unfortunately I lost quite a bit of time during the first stint until my first pitstop when we were able to adjust the front flap. Then in the second stint, once I was clear of the traffic, I was able to push hard and clocked some decent lap times. But in the end it was a very difficult weekend. ”
Anthony Davidson
“A disappointing first British Grand Prix for me. I had a good start, overtook one of the Hondas and was right with the mid-field pack. I had a good little fight with Jenson when he got me back at the exit of Club; it was good, clean racing. I kept in touch with the two Hondas for the next 15 laps or so, and then suddenly started feeling that the car was touching the ground quite a lot on the rear and it felt like it had become a bit unsafe to drive. We’re still unsure of exactly what the problem was. We tried to get back out there, but the problem remained and we had to retire the car before the end of the race. It was a frustrating weekend in general really, because the speed I felt was still there and it was annoying that I could not to get to the end. ”
Graham Taylor, Sporting Director
“I think the fact that we didn’t test here prior to this race hurt us all weekend and today confirmed that. It was a tough race for both the drivers. We opted to start Takuma from the pitlane. Anthony seemed to get a run on Jenson in the first lap, but then lost the place back. Ant followed him for a while until he had a problem with the rear of this car and unfortunately we had to retire him. Takuma soldiered long and hard and showed his speed when he was clear of traffic. But that’s the only ray of sunshine in a very difficult day. ”
