09/06/2006
NEWS STORY
Sakon Yamamoto made his Super Aguri debut today enabling the team to reach a further milestone in its short history – the running of three cars at a Grand Prix event.
The two Free Practice sessions brought their own specifics problems for the SAF1 Team Drivers, hindering the team's practice programme for today.
Takuma Sato: '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.”
Franck Montagny: "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."
Sakon Yamamoto: "It was my first time to drive the Super Aguri 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, Team Principal: "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."
To check out our Silverstone free practice gallery, click here