By nGO
July 16 2006

No problems for Franck as he lapped only under a second slower then the nearest rival with the SA05 to 16th place. Sato's bad luck continued as a clutch problem ended his race before it began.

Montagny had a great start where all the cars managed to avoid any first lap incidents. He got infront of Monteiro and had a change of fortune for his home GP and final scheduled race for Super Aguri, finishing 16th. Sato was less fortunate suffering from a clutch problem and although he still managed to participated in some action by overtaking another car, the problem forced him to retire before completing a single lap. This should be the last race for the SA05 which has not been too bad in France, lapping under 1 second to the nearest rival and lapped within 3 seconds of the fastest car. The pace should significantly improve as Super Aguri prepare to release their SA06 on time for Germany.

Montagny bows down on a high as he finishes the race in 16th place, "Well, from my point of view it's a good result because I finished the race. I had a good start and I could fight with the others. I cut the chicane only because I had been overtaken by Monteiro and I couldn't get into the chicane. So it was a good start in terms of being able to race with the other cars and after that I just tried to focus on the tyres and on the car and to give my maximum and see how it works. And we finished the race. The team and the engineers did a good job this weekend and I have to thank the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM and Aguri Suzuki for giving me the opportunity to race with them."

Hopefully the SA06 will be more obediant then Sato's old car as mechanical problems ended his race, "Obviously I'd like to say big thanks to the SA05! The car has done a great job since the beginning of the season, but this was not the end to the weekend that we wanted. I had a clutch problem on the formation lap and so at the start I really struggled to pull away. When I finally moved everyone was already in the distance, but I rapidly caught up with the group on the straight and I overtook one Midland into the hairpin! But then I couldn't select the gears and there was nothing else I could do. It is a great shame for the boys who have worked so hard. We split the strategy between Franck and me and I should have had a really strong package. I am very pleased for the team and for Franck that he had a fantastic race today."

A good job says Aguri, "Unfortunately for the team Taku had to retire due to a clutch problem, but I am very happy that Franck finished the race not only because the French Grand Prix is very important to him, but we also needed to cross the finish line again. Franck’s lap times were very consistent and he made no mistakes and I think that the team did an extremely good job all weekend. We must remember that this is still the SA05 which is not a competitive car, but with our new car making its debut in Germany, we can hope for an improvement in our results."