SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM heads to the Nürburgring circuit in Germany this week for the fifth round of the 2006 FIA Formula One™ World Championship. The historic track features a mixture of very slow through to high-speed corners; from the revised Turn 1 to the very high speed ‘S’ that follows the hairpin. The undulating circuit used for the F1 race is 5.148 kilometres or 3.199 miles long, equating to 308.863 kilometres or 191.938 miles over the 60-lap race distance.
Takuma Sato
“I enjoy racing at the Nürburgring mainly because of the layout – it is a challenging circuit with flowing high-speed corners and an undulating track. I have special memories of driving here, not only from F1, but also from my Junior Formula days. At the European Grand Prix we will be testing the latest spec of Bridgestone tyre and an aero update package that we hope will help us in the medium to high-speed corners that require a lot of downforce and good car balance. The race is earlier in the season this year so we are unsure of how the weather will affect us, but the Nürburgring is a great circuit and always produces an exciting race so we are waiting for the weekend to arrive and to be back on-track again.”
Yuji Ide“Firstly, I would like to apologise again to Christian for what happened in Imola and I very much hope that he is ok. I am new to Formula One and have had very little running in the car, so I have been trying to drive safely and to improve with every race. For the European Grand Prix I have been studying the Nürburgring circuit very closely by watching videos of the past races and learning the race lines. I am looking forward to the race and hopefully will be able to show some improvements.”
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal
"As most people know, we have been busy preparing our new car, the SA06. As a result it would have been very hard for us to test last week with our limited resources, so we have decided to run a third car with Franck Montagny in Germany in order to collect more the data from SA05. We are happy to have Franck back with the team as his experience and knowledge will be of great help in addition to the valuable information fed back to us from Takuma and Yuji. SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM will have a new aero package and Bridgestone tyres to test at the European Grand Prix, so we are looking forward to another challenging weekend."
ZoomFourth consecutive win by Sebastien Loeb
Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena leave Cordoba with 10 championship points as reward for their second consecutive victory on the Rally Argentina.
This success, their second gravel win of the year after Mexico, is also the fourth of the year for the Franco-Monegasque pairing – who now take their total of career victories up to 24. Sebastien currently has an equal number of wins to Tommi Mäkinen, and is now headed only by Colin McRae (on 25 wins) and Carlos Sainz (on 26). Daniel Elena equals the record number of wins for a co-driver, held by Luis Moya. « It's fantastic ! » said Daniel. « But the party only really starts if I manage to beat him. »
This morning the leading Xsara started with a 43 second advantage as it prepared to « moonwalk » according to Daniel Elena – referring to the lunar landscape that characterised this morning's classic stages. Having judged his pace through Mina Clavero and El Condor perfectly, Seb maintained a 33-second lead heading into the final two runs around the spectator Superspecial in Cordoba Stadium. The two stages consisted of four laps, which for Seb were more like laps of honour. Cheering him on was an enthusiastic Argentine crowd that has very much adopted the reigning World Champions as their own.
« Everything about this rally is breathtaking, » commented Seb. « The scenery, the high-speed water splashes and above all the fantastic welcome we get from the Argentine fans, who give us the best reception in the world. My Citroen was as reliable, fast and consistent as usual. That was just as well, because this rally was particularly difficult this year – mostly down to the weather. We had a good fight with Marcus [Grönholm] on the first day and that continued with Petter [Solberg] yesterday. For all those reasons, winning here is a special pleasure for me. As well as that, myself and Daniel extend our lead in the drivers championship while Kronos does the same in the constructors standings. As I still think we'll have a tight battle on our hands this year, that's no bad thing. »
Dani Sordo and Marc Marti aimed to defend their sixth place today, which was under attack from Chris Atkinson – just 18.7 seconds behind. Preparing for battle, Dani asked for a set-up change to improve traction. But after the classic El Condor stage, the reigning Junior World Rally Champion was far from happy. « I think we went the wrong way on the set-up, » he said. « My car was oversteering a lot. »
Atkinson was just 1.1 seconds behind the Xsara before the final two runs through the Superspecial. But a couple of flying laps from the Spaniard, with the cheering crowd right behind him, extended the gap to 3.6 seconds. « For my second gravel rally in a WRC car, we're more or less where I thought we would be, » said Dani. « I didn't make any mistakes. My learning curve continues and it's really good fun, although at times I wish it would come quicker. Here, I've learnt that I've still got a lot to learn. I need to be patient. »
Xevi Pons's rally also did not go as well as he had hoped, as the Spaniard was obliged to continue under the super rally regulations after going off on Friday. Nonetheless the 2006 Rally Argentina will always hold a special place in his heart, as Xevi set his first fastest stage time on the World Rally Championship in Ascochinga/La Cumbre (SS13). « One of my objectives is to gain confidence, » he said. « There's nothing better than setting fastest times to help that along. Seb has proved that the Xsara has nothing to fear from any of its rivals. With some experience and hard work, I need to make more and more use of the car's potential. My goal is to help Kronos defend its position at the head of the manufacturers' championship. »
