2006 FRENCH GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING
Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours
TAKUMA SATO - Car No: 22 (chassis SA05-05)
FP3 Position 22 No: of Laps 6 Best Lap Time 1:21.497
QUALIFYING Grid Position 22 Best Lap Time 1:18.845
FRANCK MONTAGNY - Car No: 23 (chassis SA05-02)
FP3 Position 21 No: of Laps 6 Best Lap Time 1:19.497
QUALIFYING Grid Position 21 Best Lap Time 1:18.637
T-Car SA05-01
Weather Very hot and sunny Air Temperature 29-36°C Track
Temperature 41-56°C
It was a successful day for the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM. A mechanical
problem during the third Free Practice session unfortunately
hindered Takuma’s performance during Qualifying, however
in the afternoon Franck, who was running on a different strategy
to Taku, achieved his best Qualifying performance and out-qualified
his team-mate at the very last minute of the first Qualifying
session by two tenths of a second.
Takuma Sato
“We had a difficult start as we suffered with a mechanical
problem this morning which meant that I lost a lot of time
during the practice session and I was unable to run the prepared
set-up from yesterday. In Qualifying I think that we came
back well, but I suffered a little bit with low grip, but
I believe that I have a strong overall package for the race
tomorrow.”
Franck Montagny
“It was a good Qualifying session because this morning
I was quite happy about the changes the guys had made to the
set-up of the car. The car reacted quite okay to the changes
this afternoon and for the first time I could beat my team
mate and I am happy with that, especially as it is here at
my home grand prix in France. So far the car is performing
well, so I hope it's going to continue and I will try my best
for the race tomorrow.”
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal
“It was a good day today. Taku's car had a small problem
this morning, but there were no problems for us during Qualifying
and the fastest times of our cars are very close together.
I am happy that we are closing the gap and that there is only
a one-second gap between us and our nearest competitors. We
are still in our original car, so this bodes well for the
next Grand Prix when we shall be introducing the SA06. Tomorrow
we need to finish the race with both cars and I especially
hope that Franck sees the chequered flag at his home race,
which would be very special for him and the team.”
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