The SA07 unveiled, The new season begins.


By nGO
March 14 2007

Just days before the first round of the 2007 F1 world championship the SA07 is finally launched. After thousands of kilometers and countless hours put in by hundreds of the people, Super Aguri finally reach the start of the season where the pressure and hardwork will only intensify.

Aguri suzuki statement

"The winter testing period has been very good for SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM. We have been able to complete most of the things that we had planned to do, including the evaluation of the reliability of new parts for the SA07. There are many things that we were not able to do due to time and resources, but all things considered I am very happy with the car that we have here in Melbourne. “Takuma has been with us a whole season and now understands the SAF1 Team philosophy, style and people. I believe that with our new car he is going to achieve much more this year. Anthony has been with HRF1 Team as a test driver for five years and brings with him a wealth of experience. Although he has only three F1 race starts under his belt, with his knowledge and experience to technically evaluate the car, I believe that he will perform well.

“Around this time last year we were still struggling to get two cars onto the grid. It was our first year and everything was a new experience for the team. This year we have been able to prepare for the season and everybody is raring to go. I am very much looking forward to seeing Takuma and Anthony working together again and performing their best for SAF1 Team. We will be aiming for points from the opening race and my goal for the end of the season, which I think is a realistic one, is to have our cars in the middle of the grid. I also hope that all our fans cheer for us from the start!"

Question and Answers with sporting director Graham Taylor:

Question: What adjustments have been needed to get the most from the tyres?

Taylor: There are many set-up changes that a modern F1 car holds within its arsenal and all of these have been explored during our winter testing program. The playing field has been flattened by the introduction of a single tyre manufacturer for F1 and SAF1 Team hopes to capitalise on this. It would be remise of me to detail those settings that benefit and others that do not, but I feel that our Engineering staff have a good understanding of how to maximise the abilities of this year’s tyre. However with the tyres effectively now controlled I predict the gap from the front to the back of the grid will foreshorten to 2.0 seconds.

Question: The sporting regulations also allow for a third car to be run on Friday, which is now considered a test day. What will this change in the team's operations?

Taylor: Our philosophy does not change, we will endeavour to push forward as much as possible. The new regulations actually restrict the number of cars to two rather than the three we were able to employ in 2006. The extra track time on Friday is extremely useful to smaller teams such as ourselves and we will utilise to the best of our abilities.

Question: What are your expectations for SAF1 Team’s performance?

Taylor: I am expecting the performance levels to take a natural step forward. Please be reminded that SAF1 Team is still only 15 months old, but we are ambitious and we wish to compete with teams further toward the front of the grid. We are targeting achieving our first World Championship point and when we accomplish this it will be a momentous time for Aguri and his little Team.

 

Questions and answers with technical director Mark Preston

Question What can you tell us about the new SAF1 Team SA07 car?

Preston: May I say what an incredible first year! The end of the season finished on such a high for us. The hardest part is still to come because we have to take what we created in 2006 and try to keep pushing to achieve even a small part of that. The focus for the SA07 has not changed from our strategy last year, with the team concentrating on aero development and the new Bridgestone Potenza tyres. 2006 allowed us to validate our development strategy and the SA07 is a continuation of that process. We have now put into place small, but efficient and highly motivated, groups of designers, aerodynamicists and engineers that will continue to punch above their weight when it comes to adding performance to the car throughout the season.

We have been working on this project for the past eight months with Honda Japan and other suppliers here in the UK. The car features a new monocoque developed in conjunction with Honda which gives us a large step forward in centre of gravity and more flexibility for the aerodynamicists. Last year we focused on bringing the SA06’s downforce to a similar level to other competitors in F1 and have now focused on bringing a similar level of efficiency to the package. Obviously we are one of the teams who partnered with Bridgestone in 2006 and this knowledge has allowed us to develop our understanding of the new tyres quickly over the winter testing period.

As in 2006, we will continue to use Honda power-train technology with more integration and with its associated increase in reliability. This will be a key factor in delivering our goal for the season - to win our first World Championship point. Our focus for the first three races will be to deliver a solid performance and pick up any points that are available due to other teams’ new cars potential ‘teething’ issues.

Question: What is your technical objective for the 2007 season?

Prestion: As a small team we take a number of design concepts that have started to solidify in F1. New crash testing rules have dictated large changes in the nosebox, rear impact designs, as have the side impact requirements. An F1 car is constantly evolving and the car at the start of the season often changes by the end; expect the SA07 to follow this trend in 2007 as it will be a very competitive season, and constant change is needed because our competitors certainly will not cease their developments.

Question: And how is this car different to the SAF1 Team Interim car that you ran during winter testing?

Prestion: The power-train will be exactly the same as it is a continuation of what we used in 2006. Aerodynamically the car will be sporting different wings and other aerodynamic devices. Most other areas have stayed fairly similar, with radiator packaging and electronics not varying much from last year.

Question: What has been the impact of the change to the new control Bridgestone Potenza tyres?

MP: The new tyres present a number of challenges due to the fact that they are control tyres and we have left the highly competitive situation between the two suppliers that was going on in 2006.

Q. The team fought with Spyker F1 and Toro Rosso in the latter half of the 2006 season. How do you expect the competitive situation to evolve during 2007?

Prestion: If Brazil could be taken as the starting point and we look at some of the pre-season testing, I predict that we will be ahead in Melbourne. However, Toro Rosso will benefit from the constant aerodynamic development that their main team will provide and that is one of the challenges of the season. Spyker has publicly stated that they will put all of their resource into aerodynamics and deliver a substantially better package in the mid-season. Sutil will be an asset to the team as he was very competitive in Friday testing in 2006.

More information on the SA07 from http://www.saf1.co.jp/en/machine/mchn_sa07.html

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