2007 EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX – RACE
TAKUMA SATO Car No: 22 (SA07-02)
Position DNF No: of Laps 19 Fastest Lap Time 1:37.401
ANTHONY DAVIDSON Car No: 23 (SA07-03)
Position 12 No: of Laps 59 Fastest Lap Time 1:35.282
T-Car SA02-04
Weather Warm and sunny with heavy rain at race start and
end (47.9% - 85.2% humidity)
Air Temperature 15.7°C minimum, 20.7°C maximum
Track Temperature 15.9°C minimum, 30.6°C maximum
The weather played the leading role in today’s 2007
European Grand Prix. As soon as the Red Lights went off to
start the race the rain came pounding down. Following a number
of immediate retirements, SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM drivers Anthony
Davidson and Takuma Sato drove solid laps to keep their cars
safely on the waterlogged track. The severity of the rain
forced a Red Flag situation and the race was restarted by
the Safety Car 35 minutes after it had originally begun. Unfortunately
a hydraulic problem forced the team to retire Takuma on lap
19, however Anthony went on to finish the demanding race,
just as a further shower of rain came down, in 12th position.
Takuma Sato
“It was great fun at the start of the race having to
run in the rain on the dry tyre. I made up a lot of positions
and was P10 by the end of Lap 1. But then the rain was too
strong to keep on the dry tyre and I came back to the pit
on the next lap, before the Red Flag. At the re-start we looked
as though we had reasonable race pace, but unfortunately I
had a hydraulic failure and had to retire from the race, which
is a big shame.”
Anthony Davidson
“It was a tough day with the weather causing havoc
for all of the teams out there. It was difficult to know what
tyre to be on at what time, but in the dry running our car
seemed to have the pace over the Honda and I had a nice fight
with Rubens for P12/ P11 at the time. That was good fun and
the best part of the race for me and I just had to wait to
see how it would unfold from there for the last stint. We
then got caught out in the rain at the end and probably made
the wrong tyre choice at the time, and that was key to the
race really. It was a good sign that we had the speed, but
overall it was a disappointing day as we could not capitalise
on the mixed fortunes of the other runners.”
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal
“It was a difficult race because the weather was very
unstable at the beginning. Our two cars were running with
good performance and pace, but in the end we had to ask Takuma
to retire with a hydraulic problem. Anthony continued to run
in uncertain conditions which made the decision of tyre choice
for the rest of the race a difficult one. However, Anthony
and the team did a very good job today and we shall learn
from our experience here at the Nürburgring.”
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