2007 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX – RACE
TAKUMA SATO Car No: 22 (SA07-02)
Position 16 No: of Laps 52 Fastest Lap Time 1:25.116 (lap
46)
ANTHONY DAVIDSON Car No: 23 (SA07-03)
Position 14 No: of Laps 52 Fastest Lap Time 1:24.669 (lap
49)
T-Car SA07-04
Weather Hot with a clear sky (34.9% - 47.1% humidity)
Air Temperature 28.0°C minimum, 29.7°C maximum
Track Temperature 25.1°C minimum, 40.2°C maximum
It was a difficult Italian Grand Prix weekend for the SUPER
AGURI F1 TEAM. Both Anthony and Takuma got away cleanly at
the start of today’s race, however a brake issue appears
to have hindered Takuma’s progress on the grid before
the safety car was deployed following David Coulthard’s
incident in the Red Bull. However, it was another two-car
finish for the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM, but as the mid-field improves
and end of season developments are being made throughout the
grid, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the small
team to improve its pace in line with the big spenders.
Takuma Sato
“On the way to, and also on the grid, I felt the brake
pedal had gone really soft and I clearly had a problem, but
at that time there was nothing we could do. I tried to warm
up the car on the formation lap and then the front brakes
caught fire when I got back to the grid and there was a lot
of smoke, which I was really worried about it. I didn’t
have a good feeling about the brakes, but into Turn One I
was able to make up some places. My front brake was really
fading and I was struggling with the car as it locked the
rear wheel a lot. I couldn't stop because the front didn't
have any bite and as a result I lost a few places. The safety
car then helped me to cool down the brakes and they came back
to reasonable level. After that I was able to recover my race,
overtake a few cars and push my way through. On the last stint
the option tyre came into reasonable grip and I was able to
do a good lap time, but overall it was a tough race.”
Anthony Davidson
“After a reasonably good start everyone was fairly
well behaved into Turn One, but Vettel made contact with the
rear of my car which damaged the diffuser. The car seemed
to be quite good on a heavy fuel load and I was able to challenge
Wurz in the Williams and also Fisichella. I then overtook
him when he made a mistake round Parabolica and we had a good
fight, which was probably the highlight of my race. Then as
the fuel loads came down I think that we just struggled for
speed a bit and it was hard to keep the faster cars behind
me, but I managed to hold off Ralf in the Toyota right to
the end, so I am happy enough with that.”
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal
“It was a tough race, but we performed at our potential.
The drivers drove a solid race and I am happy to see another
two-car finish. Our mechanics and engineers did a good job
in the pitstops today, but in terms of race pace, we have
to try to improve our car for the end of the season. It was
always going to be a difficult weekend for us and I would
like to thank everyone in the team and back home for their
hard work.”
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