A Rumanian, a German and an American walk into a BAR... The path of Honda Racing Development's vice president Otmar Szafnauer into Formula One sounds almost like a typical joke, except that the modest American-Rumanian born is one of the most versatile, serious and interesting men in F1. Biranit Goren interviewed the former engineer and racer who once dreamt of being a world champion, about Sato's engine blow ups, BAR-Honda's newfound success, the advantage of Friday practice, and childhood between the Iron Curtain and Motor City in Detroit. Exclusive for Atlas F1
When Takuma Sato stepped on the podium at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - equalling the achievement of Aguri Suzuki as the only Japanese driver to finish in the top three - you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief at Honda. For a change, their brilliant yet over-enthusiastic compatriot was making the headlines for the right reasons, and not because another one of their engines had seen him retire with a bang.
Five times did Sato retire with an engine failure this season - five times where his teammate Jenson Button went on to finish on the podium. And despite the electronic gizmos that should prevent a driver from having any effect on the engine's reliability, speculations were inevitable that Sato was the differing factor between the two BAR engine units - and perhaps he had stressed the engine by overdriving it.
Honda Racing's Vice President, Otmar Szafnauer, has a different theory on that.
"When I was in university," he says, "I ran a computer programme that flipped a coin a million times. I was going to Las Vegas for a friend's bachelor's party and I wanted to win at the casinos. So I had this theory that if I doubled my bet on a fifty-fifty bet, I would almost never lose ? when you lose you double until you win. And in the million flips, I came across many rows of heads or tails ? the longest string I saw was twenty nine, which would have bankrupted me, so I decided not to use the strategy.
"But there were little rows of fives - so even if it's fifty-fifty, three in a row is quite easy to happen. Even though getting two heads in a row before you start, I think the probability is 25%, three is 12.5%, and then it really gets down quickly, so twenty nine in a row you'd think would be almost nothing, but it happens."
Q: Well you've got to hope Sato is not going to get twenty nine engine failures!
Szafnauer laughs. "No, exactly! My point is, say he got seven, and it is a fifty-fifty shot, then everyone would say 'oh there's got to be a difference [between the cars or drivers]' ? well, there doesn't have to be; it's a rare event where you can get seven heads in a row, but it can happen. After you've had four of them, the next one is fifty-fifty."
The problem with that theory, though, is that engines are not supposed to explode in a season where the rules force the teams to run with one engine per car for an entire Grand Prix weekend. So the questions are twofold: why does Honda have reliability problems, and why these problems seem to inflict only one driver. The Japanese car maker doesn't have a clear answer to either questions.
"There was nothing to indicate why it should happen, and why it happens to one car rather than the other," Szafnauer commented after Montreal, where Sato retired with a blown engine for the third consecutive race. "The traction control is the same, the override controls are the same ? everything is the same with the two cars."
Q: BAR's technical director Geoff Willis stated that Sato is slightly harder on the car than Button, in their driving style. Could that have anything to do with it?
Szafnauer: "Harder on the car means how late you brake, how hard you turn in and how smooth you are. From an engine perspective it shouldn't make a difference ? you can be hard on the car, but the engine just sees the same thing: full throttle, off the throttle, and it's all mapped with rev limiters and everything. I mean, that's what it's built to do."
It was just as well that Sato never got around to testing the margins of error in Szafnauer's statistical coin toss experiment, and it would of course be all too easy to criticise BAR-Honda for bringing both cars to the finish in only three of the nine Grands Prix - especially when they have been the primary team this season to get even remotely close to Ferrari. If it wasn't for their lack of reliability, BAR would have undoubtedly now been second in the Constructors' Championship. Instead, they're only third. Only?
It's easy to forget, looking at BAR-Honda today, their appalling reliability and lack of results in previous years, despite an impressive budget, a fully backed factory engine, and a World Champion at the wheel. It's easy to forget, looking at the BAR celebrations under the podium almost every Sunday this year, how much in-fighting and politics have marred that team in its first five years. And it's easy to expect them to do more when they're the revelation of a season that has seen the traditional Top Three hegemony all but vanish.
"I wouldn't say we're surprised at our success this year," Szafnauer says, "but I think we're a bit more pleased than we thought we'd be. Our target at the beginning of the year was to be among the top three - at this point in time, it looks like we have a chance in achieving that and perhaps surpassing that; we may, if all goes well, even be fighting with Renault for second."
Szafnauer can perhaps appreciate BAR's success this season more than many others. After all, he was involved in BAR when it was just founded - and working under Adrian Reynard in establishing the new team was his first job in Formula One.
In a paddock that is largely made up of European nationalities, and in a company that is primarily Japanese, Szafnauer stands out for more than just his unique name and physical height - or his versatile experience as a businessman, an engineer and a racing driver. The amicable 40-year-old is one of the very few Americans working in Formula One, certainly the most senior in the paddock. And his biography and path into the pinnacle of motor racing is anything but conventional.
He was born in Rumania in 1964, to a Rumanian mother and a German father whose own father had moved to Germany from New York. And it wasn't until young Szafnauer was eight years old that his family moved back to the United States, but not without difficulties.
"From very early on, my father wanted to leave Rumania, but the authorities wouldn't let him," Szafnauer recalls. "Eventually he tried to escape in 1971 - when I was about seven years old. I remember two police officers coming to our house in the morning as I was leaving for school, and I thought, that's odd, policemen? Here? But it was because they had just caught my dad trying to escape the country. Luckily he didn't get shot, because often times at the border they'd shoot you.
"He was put on trial and his defence was that he was a US citizen living in Rumania. He applied many times to the government to leave with that rationale, but they just dismissed it. Eventually they put him in jail for about a year and then they let us leave for the US."
Despite a long ancestry in New York, the Szafnauers moved to Detroit, Michigan, "because my father was a tool-maker and thought he would find a job in Detroit because of the auto industry." In fact, Szafnauer recalls, his father was one of the few people in Rumania back then to have owned a car. "T here were only a couple of people who had a car in our town - I think the other person was the town doctor or something," he recalls.
"My dad won the car in some lottery, and he always thought that the draw was fixed by the government in order to stop him from trying to leave the country! Well, it was a two cylinder Trabant, with a little four-speed gearbox, papier-mache panels and stuff, and my dad would always tinker with it as there was no chance of anyone else fixing it. He had to learn to do it by himself - especially as it wasn't all that reliable. So he was always fixing it."
With oil pumps and spark plugs lying around the house, Szafnauer was inevitably drawn to motor racing, although it wasn't until at a much later age that he could afford to actually participate in races.
"Once we got to America, it was very difficult financially for my dad," he explains. "I played soccer because all it required was a pair of boots - if I wanted to play ice hockey, which I loved, I couldn't afford it, and there was absolutely no chance of me racing, zero, until I could afford it myself."
And so, at the tender age of 23, Szafnauer went to the Jim Russel school of motor racing at Laguna Seca, after which he began racing F2000 cars. You would think at that age, Szafnauer would consider racing only a hobby, but, he says, laughing, "I didn't think so, I thought I was going to be a World Champion!"
To finance his racing ("I was sponsored by RRP - Right Rear Pocket") Szafnauer, who studied engineering, began working at the Ford Motor Company. With the money he saved, he bought a '91 Reynard from a fellow Canadian racer, and once a month he would drive into work on Wednesday morning with a truck and immediately after work would drive with his mechanic to the next race venue.
Szafnauer raced until 1995 - in fact, his last appearance took place the day before Jacques Villeneuve, with whom he would later work at BAR, won the Indianapolis 500. " I entered in an event called 'The Night Before the 500', but I hit the wall in pre-qualifying, so I didn't make it to the final. I wasn't injured, but the car was injured and my wallet was devastated!" he laughs.
At the age of 31, then, Szafnauer finally accepted that a World Champion driver he won't be, and he instead focused on making a career for himself at Ford, shortly before he was lured into the Formula One paddock.
"I never had my sights set on Formula One - I wanted to rise through the ranks at Ford and do as well as I could do there," he explains. " At the time, Ford was reorganising, and under that reorganisation came a group called The New Concepts Organisation, which was meant to be a place for people to come up with exciting projects. So with my racing background, I was assigned to that group, to be the sports and performance manager. I had to come up with concepts for sports and performance, and the first thing I had was the Indygo."
The Indygo was an ambitious Ford concept for a side-by-side two-seater Indy car for street use. Ford's official press releases at the time stated the car "captures the essence of the race track and transforms it into a realistic design for the street." It was powered by a 6.0 litre V12 unit (made of two V6 units combined together) and produced a reported 435 bhp - with top speed of 275 km/h. The price tag was set to be $100,000 US.
It was there, in working on the Indygo concept, t hat Szafnauer met the man who would eventually bring him into Formula One. "We hired Adrian Reynard to design and build the car and I worked with him at that year, so when the opportunity came to start BAR and he had to hire 200 technical staff, he called me and invited me to join them to construct his management team," Szafnauer explains plainly.
"At first I didn't want to come - I thought, well, I know where my career path's going at Ford; Formula One is risky ; I worked for 12 years in the same company and now I'm going to throw that out for racing? I knew the business - racing is a flaky business and things change every year."
It certainly did for Szafnauer who, over a year after joining BAR was asked by his friend Bobby Rahal to come work with him at Jaguar Racing, only to find that his new boss was fired a week before he was supposed to begin working there himself. But, as luck and fate would have it, even that turned out for the best, as Honda were eager to have the business, engineering and marketing savvy American onto their third generation return to Formula One.
"So I was 100% right: in my first four years in F1 I had three jobs!" Szafnauer laughs. " I was at BAR for over a year, then at Jaguar for minus one week, and now at Honda. So my fears were right but, looking back, I made the right decision."
There are not many senior members at BAR today who were there six years ago, when the team was founded by Reynard and Craig Pollock, with 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve signed as their hottest commodity. Not even Honda were at the frame in the beginning. And what a disastrous beginning it was.
"Our challenges were massive," Szafnauer recalls. "There were not enough people and I think we had 40% of the staff of the rest of the grid. When I got in, at August, I was the 70th employee. Only six months before there were three employees. And when I got there, the car was already designed. Everyone else had about 300 people."
Reynard and Pollock have by now long gone, relieved of their duties at the team and unburdened of their shares at the company. But Szafnauer, now as vice president of Honda Racing, gets to enjoy the turnaround of the team's fortunes - which is more than could be said of Villeneuve who, at the end of last year and after five miserable seasons at BAR, was told his contract would not be renewed, leaving him without a drive this season.
"I feel for him, absolutely," Szafnauer states. "Jacques did a lot of hard work for the team, and you can't help look back and think 'what if'. Because we didn't give him the best package - that's a fact." But Szafnauer rebuffs any suggestions that the Canadian driver was somehow pushed out by Honda before the final race of the 2003 season, in order to make way for Sato.
"It was entirely his decision," Szafnauer says emphatically. "Saying that we had a hand in this is wrong. Look, I know what it's like to race: if you're not feeling up to the job, even the smallest distraction can be disastrous. You've got to have a 100% focus on the job at hand. So when Jacques said he doesn't want to drive, you had to respect that."
Either way, BAR without Villeneuve and with a newfound success is a whole new team, and Szafnauer confirms the organisation has finally come of age, with a better integration between Honda and BAR.
"Yes, our relationship has come of age," he says. "It's progressed to the point where we're more fully integrated. For instance, we used to run a wind tunnel in Japan, with Honda employees looking at aero developments and advances of the car, and then asked Brackley to look at it. Now, many of the Japanese have come over [to England] and work in the Brackley tunnel, integrated within the aero department. So this is the first year where we're working in that way, and that has really, really helped.
Q: BAR, Renault and Williams seem to be very close this year. How did you prepare for this season, and how do you plan to stay ahead?
Szafnauer: "Well, when we were looking at the upcoming season - because we were fifth last year - we said our target is going to be third, and we knew we had to make bigger steps relative to the others to get there. So we planned out what our steps are going to be, and obviously that worked for us. But now, during the season, you're a bit limited by what you can do because the general package is there - so you have to improve on that package. You have to work hard on progressing that package - with aerodynamic and engine upgrades. So, for example, we have a big aerodynamic upgrade coming at Silverstone.
"As far as engine goes, this year our plan was different than in previous years. In the past, every time we found an improvement in the engine we wanted to bring it out as quickly as we could. And this philosophy comes from Mr. Honda, who believed that if you find an advantage that you can put in your product, it's a sin not to give it to your customer as soon as you can. That was his mentality. And that mentality went into F1 as well, so whenever we found whatever bit of horsepower that was, or weight reduction - as soon as you can, get it to the team.
"This year we're doing it differently. We're up there with power, so we said now let's look at bunching some of the findings into bigger steps but less frequent. So that's how we're trying to progress this year. And the last engine upgrade we've had was in Montreal. But reliability is now more paramount - you pay a bigger price for an engine failure than before, and it means you have to do more analysis, make sure the reliability is there before you introduce your next step. It means bigger steps but less often. And it means a lot more testing - in the factory and, more importantly, testing on track. Before you introduce anything, you've got to run it 800-1000kms to just do one weekend's worth of analysis, whereas before if you got it to 400kms that was enough. Now it takes longer."
Q: Could it also be that you have an advantage by running a third driver in Friday's practice? This rule was put in place last year to help the bottom six teams. As it panned out, you're hardly a bottom six team and some - like David Coulthard - believe the rule is giving you an unfair advantage
Szafnauer: "Well, it is an advantage, technically it definitely gives you an advantage - you can do different things, mainly assessing tyres. But I think the success we've had this year is attributed to many, many things that we did over the winter. Part of it - a small part of it - is that we can learn a bit more with the third driver [on Fridays], especially about tyre choice. This is our first year with Michelin tyres, so we have a lot to learn about how to use the tyres to our advantage, how to best get the performance out of our tyres, and Anthony [Davidson] does help with that.
"So it's never a controlled experiment, you could never say let's look back, take Anthony away and how would you have done? I would imagine we would not be as well off as we are today, but just marginally. Most of the success has come from hard work in the wind tunnel, getting the engine ready early, a lot of testing in the winter, lower centre of gravity in the engine, more power - I mean, that's what really does it."
Q: So how do you rate your engine today, then, compared to the other teams?
Szafnauer shifts uncomfortably. Honda people are not known to brag, and there is a sense of modesty in how they go about doing their work. In that respect, Szafnauer is certainly turning Japanese. "That's difficult to say - we try to ask other people what their impression is, because they talk to the other teams more," he says, smiling.
"But I would feel comfortable saying we are if not the best, among the best. Definitely top three, if not the best engine out there."
And now, if they could just grab that first Honda win since 1992 - or at least get two cars to finish in the points together, consistently - everything will be just perfect.
he is like a premature ejaculator in a world of porno stars. .. seriously though.. I think in terms of sheer speed the guy def is quicker than his team-mate. he needs a little more experience and practice so he doesn't over do it. (India)
Fisi will never amount to anything beyond his one fluke victory. he could have been at Renault. talent or not if he was a winner head have been picked by now. another 2 seasons and he will be a never was and then off to DTM
Despite being the only team to consistently climb on the podium with Ferrari this year, BAR are struggling to get both cars to the finish at each event: with a major aerodynamic update due in France, the team are not expected to make a power step with the engine: rather, they are expected to be implementing reliability oriented updates.
Whilst Jenson Button has produced a solid performance all season, and can be expected to do the same in France this weekend, Takuma Sato could be very exciting to watch. The Japanese driver's all or nothing style could prove expensive on the smooth Magny-Cours circuit, but equally, if he keeps it on the surface, he might wring the best speed out of the car.
Either way, BAR head to France looking forward to upgraded aerodynamics and a good chance at putting at least one car on the podium. And if Michelin have done their homework, they might finally be able to challenge for the top step.
BAR-Honda driver Takuma Sato describes a lap of Magny Cours - site of this weekend's French Grand Prix...
"Magny Cours is an interesting circuit because it always produces an exciting race! You start with the cars' set-up low as the track is very smooth, but you need to have a good amount of grip for the tight corners and good traction for the hairpins.......
Hi folks... I trust you enjoyed the last race. For me, it was a really fantastic grand prix, full of excitement, full of lots of things that made people sit on the edge of their seats lap after lap, and that's entertainment - that's what we need more of... Obviously there was quite a lot happening, but the Ralf Schumacher crash was probably the biggest issue .....
..... For me, the weekend had a number of stars, Takuma Sato did a great job to grab third, and his very first podium, while Rubens drove a great weekend. However, at the end of it, you have to take Michael and put him at the top of the pile....
<P. 2> This weekend, though, we go to Magny-Cours for the French GP. It's quite a good track and there are a couple of technical corners on it, which are quite demanding to get the car set up for, and the main right-hander onto the back straight needs quite a bit of commitment as well.
.... The second half of the season looks likely to be more of the same in terms of what Ferrari are going to do. However, BAR look like they are progressing strongly, and Renault will improve as well, along with Williams and McLaren.
That, in my mind, is what we have got to keep an eye out for, to see if one of those teams can close the gap slightly. The gap certainly seems to be reducing in qualifying, but it is still quite considerable in the race.
In France, Renault will be eager to do well on their 'home track', and they should provide strong opposition to Ferrari. The R24 should be suited to the circuit...
BAR are going to be quite a strong challenger this weekend as well but, in my mind, there is nothing to say that Ferrari won't be the best on the block.
..... Williams, as a team, should be in the top six, and I expect them to be quite strong for qualifying, given the power of the BMW engine. However, I think they still lack a bit of overall performance for the race.
McLaren will be using their 'new' car this weekend.... ....Everyone seems to be saying that progress has been made, but the rest of us will just have to wait with bated breath.
<P.4> To sum up then... I'm going to take a wild stab, and predict pole for Kimi Raikkonen and the new MP4-19B, while race-day will see the usual Michael Schumacher-Barrichello 1-2. They will be followed by the BARs, headed by Button, with Raikkonen and Monty completing the top six. Here's hoping we have another good race to get us all in the mood for Silverstone.
Sato & the Adelaide Hairpin Thu, 01 July 2004 22:19 Skoda Messages: 558 Registered: July 2003 Senior Member
Sato has adopted the console game style of cornering and uses the other cars to slow him down. It has proven to be the best method and has yeilded me any wins.
Mark Hughes F1';s Inside line "Taku edged out to look at who had cut him up, to find Rubens laughing like a drain."
EARLIER this year Ross Brawn was somewhat bemused when Bridgestone technical chief Hirohide Hamashima came to him and explained there would be anew Bridgestone engineer starting at Ferrari in the coming week and that he would like Ross to "masturbate him". Now, Ross has known Hamashima-san for along time and suspected there might bean element of language barrier in the request. So he kept calm. He thought back to the time when his colleague had first arrived at Bridgestone's German base to work and had repeatedly answered his phone with the standard Japanese greeting of 'mushi-mushi', not knowing that mushi meant something very rude indeed in German. So Ross, a faint smile on his lips, agleam in his eyes, said he accepted that there were certain cultural differences between them but that at Ferrari they didn't usually do that sort of thing. What exactly did Hirohide mean? The tyre guru thought for a moment, then came up the word he actually meant: "Hah, no: I mean motivate." On the surface, the Ferrari/Japanese interface in the European Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago between Takuma Sato and Rubens Barrichello didn't seem quite so jovial, Rubens afterwards insisting that Taku had been "amateur" in his passing attempt, Taku that Rubens had closed the door on a move that had already happened. (続く)
(続き) In Montreal Taku was driving back to his hotel from the track in his Honda Acura. Sitting in a traffic jam, he was surprised when a red Ford Explorer simply cut across his bows millimetres away from contact and forced its way in. Taku edged out to look at the driver-only to find one R Barrichello laughing like a drain. Sato's passenger, his commercial manager Matthew Winter, hollered across that Rubens should "stop being such an amateur". Rubens thought this was even funnier. Next morning Sato is driving back into the circuit. Yet again a red Explorer comes dashing down the outside lane, then cuts him up. Yet again, a laughing Barrichello is at the wheel. These two seem to be getting on fine now. But Rubens' friend Cristiano da Matta might still wonder about the Japanese language barrier. After climbing out of the car, Sato notices the Brazilian Toyota driver walking towards him wearing trousers that are slightly too short, revealing bright orange socks. As they pass, Sato holds out his hand in greeting and says in his fast Japanese accent "nicesocks". Da Matta walks off looking puzzled, wondering if the Japanese for 'good morning' might be 'nicesocks', wondering maybe if he should try it out on some of the Toyota bosses.
全文はこう。 "I just hope our strategy works because we have moved it on a bit with the car and it is even better than it was in Indianapolis. We are very positive for a good race and we will see what happens."
“내년 새로 건설될 상하이 서키트에서 열리게 될 그랑프리 대회를 앞두고 조던팀이 중국에 상륙한다.”
중국국영방송국인 CCTV가 2003년 월드 챔피온십 16경기 모두를 중계 하기로 한 계약을 맺은 이후, 베이징에서만 약 2천6백만명 정도의 사람들이 호주그랑프리 대회를 시청했다. 중국국영방송국은 F1 그랑프리 대회가 중계될 경우, 중국에서 1억명 이상이 대회를 시청할 것으로 기대하고 있다.
J. Button believes his BAR-Honda may be the quickest car in the field after qualifying fourth for the French Grand Prix here Saturday. Button was impressed by the performance of his team at the last race in the United States and he said that further improvements to his car have put the team in an even stronger position.
....F. Alonso claimed pole position...with....M. Schumacher, of Ferrari, second and...David Coulthard third in his McLaren-Mercedes. But Button remains confident that his race strategy will be strong and said: "If you look at Indianapolis our car was working very well - it was the quickest car on the circuit and here we have the same confidence." "I just hope our strategy works because we have moved it on a bit with the car and it is even better than it was in Indianapolis. We are very positive for a good race and we will see what happens."
His team-mate Takuma Sato, who stepped up to the race team at the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix last year, has had less fortune but claimed his maiden career podium at Indianapolis two weeks ago. His success, which came after a run of four retirements in five races, was a boost for the team as Button had previously claimed 44 of their 52-points haul from the first eight races. Sato will start Sunday's race from seventh on the grid after being separated from Button by the second Renault of...Trulli and the modified Williams-BMW machine of....Montoya.
.....But Button suggested the grid positions do not tell the whole story and hinted that the Anglo-French Renault team's performance had been boosted by their determination to sacrifice race pace to claim pole position on home ground. "We knew they would try everything to get onto the front row and they have done it with one car but not with the other," said Button. "Still, our main competition is Alonso and Michael. I always have a Renault starting right behind me, so I am used to it now. The good thing about here is if they get me at the start the first lap you can overtake - so we will get them back."
>>246 my Dear Obha, Thanks million for your time and effort. Jibunno PC karaha Nihongo nyu-ryoku dekimasen node. douzo yoroshiku onegai itashishimasu.
BAR team boss David Richards has vowed to sort out the reasons behind Takuma Sato's string of engine failures once and for all - and intimated that he would not be stopping at the mechanical side. Sato dropped out of the French Grand Prix on lap 15, having only just completed his first scheduled pit-stop. Rather than the dramatic exits of recent races, however, the USGP podium finisher pulled quietly off trailing the faintest tell-tale signs. "The lap times were very close and everybody was competitive, so it was a tough race," the Japanese driver said, "I immediately felt a loss of power after the pit-stop and we knew there was a problem down the main straight, but there was nothing we could do. It was a different problem to before - not sudden, but gradual."
Team boss Richards admitted that his patience had gone beyond being tested by the failures, and said that all possible explanations would be explored in the short period of time before the British GP next weekend. "Consolidating our third place in the constructors' championship, and Jenson retaining third place in the drivers' standings, would, on the face of it, appear to be a solid weekend's work," Richards said, "However, one can't help but feel disappointed that we didn't make the most of our potential here in Magny-Cours. "Even I don't believe that bad luck stretches this far, and the most rigorous of investigations now has to take place in order to find a solution in time for our home race in just seven days' time."
"It was extremely frustrating to have another engine failure on Taku's car and this level of unreliability is unacceptable," agreed technical director Geoff Willis, "We have to ensure that our investigations into the problem are conclusive in order to find a proper solution."
BAR team boss David Richards has vowed to sort out the reasons behind Takuma Sato's string of engine failures once and for all - and intimated that he would not be stopping at the mechanical side.
After his podium finish two weeks earlier at Indianapolis, Takuma Sato came back to earth with a bump in the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, dropping out of the race in the early stages.
This was a very disappointing weekend for the whole BAR-Honda team, which struggled to show the pace it has displayed on recent outings. "Very disappointing - especially after Indy," was how Taku summed it up succinctly a couple of hours after his latest retirement, "We are now wondering why we couldn't be as competitive in France as we hoped."
The weekend started with rain on Friday, which meant very little work could be done in the opening two practice sessions. "We had already chosen one spec of tyre before Saturday," Taku revealed, "and, if that didn't work properly, we could have gone to another. But it was difficult because we also needed to set up the car. Having said that, it was the same for everybody, so we can't use that as an excuse."
Sato, even so, was fourth fastest in Saturday's free practice. He dropped to seventh in qualifying but, with the top contenders so evenly matched, it was always going to be a lottery. Added to that, Sunday's race would show that Sato's BAR was the most heavily-fuelled of the top ten runners.
"Everybody at Magny-Cours was very close, very competitive, and the difference in lap times in qualifying was virtually nothing - just like Formula Three!" the Japanese driver smiled, "It was great competition, but a shame that we were not at the top of the grid. "We were reasonably happy with our performance and with the balance of the car, and I was reasonably happy in the cockpit - the grip level was good and the tyre degradation quite good."
Taku kept his seventh place at the start of the race, but was out-braked by Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren into the Adelaide hairpin and dropped to eighth. "My first reaction at the start was good, and then Jenson Button [in the other BAR] and I both just struggled on traction," he revealed, "After Monaco, we had to change the mapping and we're still halfway through developments."
Three laps later, the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello also steamed past at the same spot, pushing the Japanese driver down to ninth. During the first pit-stop cycle, Sato rose as high as second, right on the tail of early leader Fernando Alonso's Renault, before coming in for his own stop. Shortly after that there was an engine failure which put the BAR out of the race.
"It was a little bit of a frustrating race," Taku sighed, "I think my engine had been a little bit sick - maybe from just after the start and definitely just before the stop, when there was a little bit of smoke. Then, after the pit-stop, the smoke was significant and I heard some very bad noises - down the straight to the Adelaide hairpin, I could only reach fifth gear!
"This engine failure was a little bit different to the other races - all of the others were a sudden end and a big bang, but this one was gradual. We should at least have scored a point but it was going to be a tough race. "There's not much we can do before the British Grand Prix, with only four days remaining before practice! I'm sure Honda are looking into it though, and that we'll know tomorrow morning."
And so onto Silverstone, a circuit very special in Sato's early career. He made his F3 debut at the 1999 British Grand Prix meeting and took a National Class win, then he scored his first overall F3 win there in a British championship round in May 2000. The year after that dominated the British GP support race.
"It's one of the most exciting grand prix circuits from a personal point of view," he admitted, "Perhaps you could say it's my real 'home' circuit, because my racing career grew up there! I have lots of good memories there, and of course, I live in England. The circuit characteristics should suit our car and we've had a lot of success testing there. After, Indy we still carry good momentum, even if Magny-Cours was a little bit disappointing."
Dear Aunt Obha, Your kindness is humbly appreciated, as I still cannot fill in jpn texts through my pc. If it could be available, would you be kind enough to spare your time also about >>369-371 ...? since this one should be of certain interest or curiosity of fellows here, including these demanding, typical 2ch boys like >>372>>374>>376 :) I appreicate your time and effort in advance. Regards,
>>384 pulled quietly off trailing the faintest tell-tale signs. ここは、琢磨が薄い白煙を上げてリタイアしたことを書いてる。 「(エンジントラブルの)かすかな兆候を見せながら、静かに車をコース脇に寄せた」
"Consolidating our third place in the constructors' championship, and Jenson retaining third place in the drivers' standings, would, on the face of it, appear to be a solid weekend's work," Richards said, " ここは、ニュースサイトの日本語訳を見れば、すぐに分かると思うけど、「コンストラクターズ・ランキングの3位とバトンのドライバーズ・ランキングを確実にした週末だった」
I still could choose two or three-stop during a race but only thing we didn't know was what the tyre degradation with such a heavy fuel load would be. We had to take the risk. (レース中にも2ストップにするか3ストップにするかを選択できたけど、 あんなに燃料を積んでタイヤのタレがどうなるかだけは よく分からなかったんだ。リスクをとるしかなかったんだよ。)
I'm sorry to say this, but I disagree that. >>758. Trading info and arguing about it are purpose of this place, I think. I don't think here are for people who always discuss about English-Japanese translation. Not for who depends on feeders.
Sato ist im Moment wohl die groste Uberraschung, der fahrt mit mordsmasigem Einsatz und lasst sein Talent walten. 佐藤は今現在もっとも皆を驚かせていると言っていいたろう。 彼は全力を尽くして走り、才能を発揮している。
Der konnte, wenn er konstant wird, ein groser Fahrer werden. ことによると、もし彼がこれから安定するなら、偉大なレーサーに成るだろう。
Er fordert Button heraus, der selbst eine starke Nummer ist, und das will doch etwas heisen." 彼はバトンに、自分こそがNo.1だと挑戦しているが、 これはことによると危険かもしれない。