By nGO
October 8 2006

The team bounce back from a lacklustre qualifying to bring both cars to the finish, and have their best race of the season. Sato once again drove competitively to 15th while Yamamoto finishes infront of the home crowd in 17th.

Somehow Super Aguri found some extra pace in the race today, Sato's best lap only 2.4 seconds behind the fastest, race winner and championship leader Alonso. Even Yamamoto stepped up his performance, his fastest lap was under 3 seconds of the pace setter Alonso. Not only did the drivers find something extra but also the crew, as Sato commended them on their quick and accurate pitstops, the best this season. 

This meant that Super Aguri had a strong race, perhaps their strongest so far and were able to bring the cars home proudly as the F1 curtains close in Suzuka. Sato put the Shanghai troubles behind him and made a good start, initially fighting with the Toro Rosso of Scott Speed before having a consistant race to finish 15th. Yamamoto waited long to finish a race, then he finishes two Consecutively, this time improving on his previous performance by lapping faster going from 4 laps down to 3 in 17th place.

A very special feeling for Sato, "This is an absolutely fantastic result for the team – we could not have asked for anything more. Our performance at the beginning of the weekend was not as it should have been, but I believe that we have done everything that we could for the race. The start was very exciting. I overtook a few cars into turn one, but then I got held up and re-overtaken, but then at the Esses I re-overtook Scott Speed, which was an exciting moment. Unfortunately my pace then was not enough and I was overtaken by Speed again. But after I settled into the race the car worked very well and the Bridgestone tyres gave superb performance, so I was able to run competitively. The boys in the team did a tremendous job - I think that the pitstops were the best we have done all season - very quick and very accurate. And the fans were incredible! We had great support and at the end I could see all of the flags shining through the sunlight. For me, counting down the laps to the last lap at Suzuka is a very special feeling, but also very sad as the race is ending and especially as this may be our last race here for a while. I think that the team is really satisfied with our two-car finish today.”

Yamamoto improving with every race, “I really appreciate the support from everyone who has come to the race this weekend. Their support gave me the extra power to finish the race. I would like to thank the team, sponsors and everyone who has supported me through my career. It is a fantastic feeling to finish my home grand prix at the Suzuka Circuit, but on the other hand I am a racer, and I always want to go faster, so I will review my race and prepare myself for the next grand prix in Brazil.”

Aguri happy with the team's acheivement today, “I would like to say ‘thank you’ to everybody – my team, the fans, everybody who has been supporting us. It is a great result for us to have a two-car finish here and both drivers have done a great job today. At the moment, however, it is a perfect result for us whilst we are still a small and new team. So I am very happy that we have achieved this result here at Suzuka today, especially as it may be the circuit’s last grand prix.”