By nGO
May 28 2006

Both cars were racing strongly holding off a Midland before Sato retired on lap 46, but Montagny finishes his first race for Super Aguri in 16th place.

Super Aguri found themselves in a dangerous situation at the start with multiple cars in front and behind them, but managed to stay clear of any first lap incidents and avoided the tangle between the two Midland cars. Sato was lapping consistently, even managing to emerge ahead of Jenson Button's Honda for a while. Things were looking good for Super Aguri's second two-car finish until his retirement on lap 46 due spurred on by an electrical issue. Montagny made a clean get away behind Sato and defended well against the much faster Monteiro for much of the grand prix before being passed on the final stages. Montagny drove a solid race and completes his first grand prix in 16th place at the glamorous Monaco circuit. It has been a tough race, which can hardly be called a success as Super Aguri did not achieve their target of a two-car finish. But Super Aguri clear Monaco unscathed, collected over 200 laps of data and are in a better position then before.

Disappointment as problems with the car bring Sato's outstanding race to a halt on lap 46,  "I am very disappointed not to have finished the race. Up to my retirement I had enjoyed it immensely and although we did not make a great start, I had moved up a few positions and the car was running well. Our pitstop strategy and traffic control enabled me to make consistent runs and to push all the time. But suddenly we encountered an electrical issue and the speed dramatically dropped, so I came back to the pits and we made a setting change, but after one lap we suffered total failure and I had to retire from the race. It is a shame because the team has done such a great job this weekend and our progress has been very encouraging. I am also personally extremely disappointed not to have finished this Grand Prix, but that is motor racing and I will try again next year."

After a strong drive and some excellent defending, Montagny finishes his first grand prix in 16th place, "I am happy to have finished a Grand Prix for the first time and the fact that it is has been here in Monaco makes it a special race. I had a good fight with Monteiro for 40 laps, however I am sure that he will not say the same, but this is racing after all. The car was hard to drive but I still enjoyed it. On the positive side we have collected 70 laps of data, so I am happy about that. We can now work towards improving the car with this latest information for the next race."

The end of a hard weekend for Aguri and the team, "All in all it was a very tough race for us. Takuma was doing well until he suffered with an electrical problem and Franck did a great job to finish his first race for the team. It is a difficult track and he said that the car was very hard to handle. We have not achieved our goal of another two-car finish once again, but I would like to thank the team for all their hard work this weekend."