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Written by Super Aguri F1 Team
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Sunday, 30 September 2007 |
The weather at the Fuji Speedway played the starring role at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix. It is fair to say
that this was not the home race that SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM was hoping for, however the relentless support
from the team’s dedicated fans helped to lift the ‘dampened’ spirits of the entire team.
Fuji Speedway
30 September 2007
2007 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX – RACE
TAKUMA SATO Car No: 22 (SA07-02)
Position 15 No: of Laps 65 Fastest Lap Time 1:31.507 (lap 54)
ANTHONY DAVIDSON Car No: 23 (SA07-03)
Position DNF No: of Laps 54 Fastest Lap Time 1:31.803 (lap 27)
T-Car SA07-04
Weather Rain all day (94.5% - 95.4% humidity)
Air Temperature 17.5°C minimum, 18.1°C maximum
Track Temperature 21.9°C minimum, 23.5°C maximum Takuma Sato:
“I have never experienced such a long period with the safety car before and it was very cold in the cockpit.
Once we started visibility was zero on the main straight and then suddenly someone braked in the middle of
the straight in front of me, we touched and I damaged my front nose. When the rain got lighter in the middle
stint I had fuel to the end and a new set of extreme tyres. With this combination unfortunately the tyres
overheated and I lost a lot of grip. I wanted to try my first set of tyres again, so we used the opportunity during
the last safety car period to pit. This seemed to work much better and I was able to improve on my pace for the
last stint and overtake a few people, but in the end it was a disappointing result for the team after a tough
weekend for everybody and I would like to thank the fans who have supported us through such terrible
weather.” Anthony Davidson:
“It was a very difficult day here in Fuji. Very wet conditions made it very hard for all the drivers. I was pleased to
make it through without any mistakes, but unfortunately at the end I retired due to a throttle sensor failure,
which put me out of the race. It is disappointing after doing a good solid job, but I am looking forward to China
where we can hopefully rectify the situation.” Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal:
“It was a very difficult race today due to the weather. Both drivers did a good job and it is a shame that both
encountered problems during the race. Fog and rain is the usual weather at Fuji, even though today was wetter
than normal. Our team has to survive in these types of race conditions and I think that we were unlucky with
our result today.”
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