Click on any image above to see a full-screen enlargement.
Ad No. 281
|
|
|
| price: |
POA |
| location: |
Aberdeen City, United Kingdom |
| class: |
circuit racing |
| year: |
2006 |
| condition: |
good |
Race History:
|
It is not easy for a new team to appear on the F1 circuit, least of all for the team to be conceived and made operational within the space of a few months. But former Grand Prix driver Aguri Suzuki managed just that, helped by the background and experience of his Formula Nippon, GT and IndyCar teams, in addition to a go-kart series.
The first discussions about entering Formula One began in early 2005 and the cars were ready on the grid in Bahrain the following March. After unsuccessful approaches to existing teams, during August and September of 2005 Aguri was able to use his Honda connections to secure a supply of engines and then learnt that the old Arrows factory at Leafield was available: ‘There was nothing in the factory ˜ it was like a garage; nothing. And so after that I started this project, this crazy impossible project.’
From a staff of five at the beginning of October, the team had grown to 80 by the first race of 2006, and nearly doubled by the end of the season. With a Honda engine deal in place, the next step was to design the car. The phenomenal amount of work and time required to do this was overcome when Super Aguri managed to buy the 2002 Arrows chassis from Paul Stoddart, named SA05 by its new owners. With just four monocoques, the team began an intensive programme to develop the chassis for the rules and regulations of the 2006 season.
The team's entry into the 2006 Championship was only confirmed on 26 January, with Aguri producing the $48 million bond. With development of the car now well under way, thoughts turned to possible drivers for the new team. Given the team's strong Japanese origins, it was no surprise that Takuma Sato earned himself a place, alongside rookie Yuji Ide.
As to be expected, the first few races were used to iron out problems with the car and to make improvements, although amazingly under the circumstances, Sato managed to finish the first three races of the season. In contrast, Ide did not shine and lost his Superlicence after five races, being replaced by the Frenchman Franck Montagny. Montagny himself lost his seat to Sakon Yamamoto for the final races of the season.
Whilst racing with the SA05 chassis, development had started on the SA06. The main changes were a new quick-shift gearbox and new suspension developed by Bridgestone. The changes also saved weight and reduced the centre of gravity, whilst revised aerodynamics improved the car's looks as well as airflow. The revised chassis did not make its debut until the German Grand Prix in July but the new car provided Super Aguri's best result of the 2006 season when Sato drove to tenth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Chassis 05 was driven by Takuma Sato in six races during 2006, running in SA05 configuration. This particular car's first race of the season at the Nurburgring saw Sato achieve a qualifying position of 20th, but he retired at three-quarters distance with a hydraulics problem which also afflicted team-mate Montagny. At the Spanish Grand Prix a week later, Sato's qualifying performance in chassis 05 again resulted in 20th, whilst in the race itself he put in a solid drive to come home in 17th place.
In Monte Carlo at the end of May, Sato's race ended on the 46th lap with electrical trouble. The bad luck continued at the Canadian Grand Prix when Sato had an accident on lap 64 of the 70-lap race, although he was still classified in 15th place. At Indianapolis, Sato qualified chassis 05 in 18th place, but on lap six of the race an ill-considered overtaking attempt on the Midland of Tiago Monteiro caused Sato's retirement and, indirectly, that of Monteiro.
After qualifying in 21st place for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, Sato's race ended prematurely on the first lap with a clutch problem and thus ended chassis 05's season.
Having recently been purchased direct from Super Aguri, chassis 05 is complete with all spares and equipment and is now to be fully rebuilt by Cars International Service. It will be fitted with a fresh TJ' series V10 engine prepared by Cosworth exclusively for the PF1 client programme. This provides a unique opportunity to run such a late-model F1 car under current EuroBOSS regulations because the chassis, having been originally built prior to December 2003, is eligible to race again in 2008!
|
|
|
|
asia
australia
PREV IMAGE |
CLOSE
| NEXT IMAGE
