2006 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX – RACE
TAKUMA SATO - Car No: 22 (SA06-02 T-car,
pit lane race start)
Position 16 No: of Laps 51 Fastest Lap Time 1:25.676
SAKON YAMAMOTO - Car No: 23 (SA06-04)
Position DNF No: of Laps 18 Fastest Lap Time 1:26.548
Weather Hot and dry Air Temperature 28-30°C Track Temperature
33-43°C
SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM had a challenging race at the Autodromo
Nazionale di Monza today. A hydraulic problem on the way to
the grid forced Takuma to start the 2006 Italian Grand Prix
in the T-car from the pits. Both Takuma and Sakon made good
race starts, however Sakon also experienced a hydraulic problem
in his SA06 and had to retire from the race on lap 18. Later
in the race Takuma struggled with the handling of his car
after the floor suffered delamination. Although his pace was
then greatly reduced, he drove a solid race to bring his SA06
home ahead of the team’s nearest rivals.
Takuma Sato
“It was a hard race for us. We had a hydraulic problem
on the way to the grid so I had to abort the lap, come back
to the pit, change into the T-car and start from the pit lane.
We were carrying fuel for a one-stop strategy and everything
seemed okay at first and I just tried to catch-up with the
group up and overtake the cars infront. We had good pace and
it looked like we had a strong package - it was encouraging
to catch the Midlands’ gradually. But I started to struggle
with a chassis related problem and after about 20 laps you
can see that my lap time fell two seconds off the pace immediately.
I did all I could just to stay on the circuit, come back to
the pit and do the tyre change, but I realised that I must
have a serious problem. After the race we could see that the
floor had delaminated, so I lost a huge amount of downforce.
It is a shame, again, that we couldn't show the full potential
of the SA06, but I think everybody has worked hard and obviously
we have got to solve these problems. During the next two weeks
we go to the Silverstone test which is incredibly important
for us for the last three races and so I believe that we can
improve the car there.”
Sakon Yamamoto
“We had a good start and good pace. After a couple
of laps we realised that we had a problem with the car that
we fixed quite quickly. But in the end we had a hydraulic
problem which forced me to retire from the race, which is
a shame, so at the Silverstone test in a couple of weeks I
want to improve the car for the next races in China and Japan.”
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal
“Taku had a tough race today and did a good job to
bring the car home. Sakon suffered a hydraulic problem and
I am sorry that once again he was unable to finish the race.
We will work hard at the coming Silverstone test to try to
solve the problems that we are encountering with the SA06
so that we can look forward to the last flyaway races and
especially our second home race in Suzuka.”
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