2006 GERMAN GRAND PRIX – RACE
Hockenheimring, Hockenheim
TAKUMA SATO - Car No: 22 (SA06-03)
Position DNF No: of Laps: 38 Fastest Lap Time 1:19.413
SAKON YAMAMOTO - Car No: 23 (SA06-04)
Position DNF No: of Laps: 1 Fastest Lap Time No Timed Lap
T-Car SA05-01
Weather Hot, Humid and sunny Air Temperature 33-35°C
Track Temperature 46-51°C
It was a disappointing but not wholly unexpected end to the
German Grand Prix weekend for the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM. A start-up
issue prevented Sakon Yamamoto, who was commencing his inaugural
race with the SAF1 Team from the pit lane, from initially
leaving the garage. This was followed by a drive shaft failure
which forced him to retire on his first lap. Takuma Sato’s
weekend came to an equally disappointing end after an encouraging
Qualifying session yesterday. Takuma made an impressive race
start and was soon up to 15th position from his original 17th
when a gearbox oil leak also forced Takuma to retire from
the 2006 German Grand Prix on lap 38.
Takuma Sato
“The debut of the SA06 in Germany has been positive
and the car performed very well in Qualifying yesterday. We
were expecting a little bit more in terms of race pace today,
so we are a little bit disappointed, but it is a big step
up from the SA05 so this will come in time. It was exciting
to be able to race with the Midland’s and in the second
stint I was still ahead of one of them. In the end I had a
gearbox related oil issue so I had to retire from the race,
but because this is a new car it is not really surprising
that we encountered some kind of problem. Although it was
obviously a disappointing race today, overall it was a good
weekend for us, not easy, but definitely a good weekend.”
Sakon Yamamoto
“I am disappointed not to have raced here today as
I only completed one lap. On the positive side, we have collected
more data than we had for the SA06 today, so we shall study
this before we arrive in Hungary. The SA06 is easier to drive
than the SA05, so I hope that I can continue to adapt well
and learn more about the car for the race in Hungary next
week.”
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal
“I am very sorry that Sakon was unable to compete in
his first race with the team today. He showed encouraging
progress in the SA06 all weekend so I hope that he will have
a good Grand Prix in Hungary. Taku did a good job here today
- he was competitive and showed that he was able to fight
with the Midland’s, but unfortunately he suffered with
an oil leak. Even with our result today I am happy with the
SA06’s first outing because we were not been able to
test the car before this race and I think that we have made
an encouraging start.”
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