Third car debuts for Super Aguri in Silverstone

By nGO
June 9 2006

Sakon fills the third driver role as problems limited running in first practice for Sato and Montagny. The car is difficult to handle but Aguri targets a two car finish.

For the first time Super Aguri uses a third car that is being piloted by new driver Sakon Yamamoto, he managed to complete 49 laps. Yamamoto is still getting use to the car having driven it for the very first time today, Aguri was pleased with his performance.

Both Sato and Montagny had problems during friday practice which limited their running due to problems such as with the sensors. Although the programme was completed, non of the drivers including Yamamoto are happy with how the car handles.

Takuma Sato believes his data may be "misleading", he set a best time of 1:25.870, "We had a sensor issue during the morning session so we only completed a few laps and one timed lap. We had a smoother run in the beginning of the afternoon, but we had another chassis problem on the car. Although we completed our tyre test programme there maybe a good chance that our information may be misleading, so I will have to rely on the other two drivers’ data. We shall now work with the information that we have as a team for tomorrow’s practice session."

Montagny did not have a good day today, setting a best time of 1:26.248, "We did not run this morning and this afternoon we encountered a few problems too. We had a lot of snap oversteer and it was very difficult to calm the car. We did not find a good set during the sessions, even though with new tyres the car was a lot better for sure. My attempts at quick laps were also not clear of traffic, so we unable to gauge the speed of the car here, but it is definitely a difficult track for us, so we have a lot of work to do before tomorrow."

Yamamoto set a best time of 1:27.908 and looks forward to his next F1 outing,  "It was my first time to drive the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM car and it was fun! I was able to feel the car and I think keep consistent runs during both sessions. The car is a little bit hard to control, but I enjoyed my first day very much. I was able to learn a lot from these two sessions and I am looking forward to the next Grand Prix."

Aguri Suzuki is pleased with Yamamoto and hopes for a two car finish, "We had some problems with cars No:22 and No:23 during the morning session, but we were able to solve these by the afternoon. We were able to test the race settings as scheduled and I think that Yamamoto did a good job testing, so I am pleased with his performance today. He said that he is getting used to the car and the team so I am not so worried about him settling in. The weather is unbelievably sunny at Silverstone, so I am looking forward to the weekend and hopefully another two-car finish for the race."