By
September 1 2006

This week saw Super Aguri along with all the other teams headed to Monza to test a week before the grand prix. Although progress was made and vital data was collected, a number of issues prevented the team from fully utilising the 3 days of testing at Monza.

The first day ended with just four installation laps, but Super Aguri had better luck as Yamamoto completed over a race distance worth of laps. Yamamoto on his test, “It was first time for me and for the team to participate in an official test with the SA06. Unfortunately we lost the first day’s running due to a number of issues, but I completed more than 60 laps on day two and we were able to try a variety of things on the car. I think that we have been able to make some improvements with the new car, so I am happy about that and am very much looking forward to the Italian Grand Prix next week.”

On the last day Sato took over, but problems throughout his session prevented him from doing all the running the team would have liked. During the 3 days the mechanics gave it their all to make sure the cars managed to atleast to run enough to collect the required data.  A demanding test for the team and for Sato, “It was a positive, but very challenging test for the team. It has been good to complete a multi-day test for the first time in the SA06, even though it has been specifically for the Italian Grand Prix. This test is very important for next weekend and, although all the teams’ are in a similar position, we have collected essential data for our cars, tyres and control system as well. We encountered a few problems this morning which meant that we had a late start to our running and a gearbox problem in the afternoon meant that we were unable to complete our planned programme, but we have collected the data we require for the race next week. The mechanics and engineers have worked so hard, with a limited number of components and in two shifts through the night for two days. It has been a physically demanding test for everyone.”

Mark Preston happy with the progress, “It has been a productive week for the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM, but an extremely tough one. We have finally participated in a test before a race and have therefore been able to make the appropriate preparations. I think that what we have achieved over the past three days should put us in a good position for the coming race weekend. We have collected a good amount of data to look over and we will now be able to plan Franck’s (Montagny) programme for the Friday free practice sessions more thoroughly. Overall, I am happy with the progress that we have made with the SA06 and it feels good to have successfully run through our aero, Bridgestone tyres and software programmes for next week.”

Despite the problems which prevented alot of running and caused the team to not fully completed their programme, Yamamoto and Sato still set reasonable lap times. Monza First timer Yamamoto managed a lap time of 1:25.600 on the second day. Sato on the third day set a lap time of 1:24.543.