Having not even existed at the time of the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix,
Super Aguri brought their maiden season to a close at Interlagos with their best performance of the season after both
Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto caused a stir by posting top ten lap times.
In what has been a tough inaugural season for the all-Japanese squad, Sato and Yamamoto gave a glimpse of their potential for next season, with the former claiming their best result yet of tenth, ahead of both Toro Rossos and Spykers.
However, the most telling statistic of their pace around the Interlagos circuit was the fact that Yamamoto walked away with the seventh fastest lap of the race, while Sato was equally as quick with the ninth best time.
Indeed, Sato enjoyed an exciting race, battling his way past the benchmark Spykers and Toro Rossos to finish ahead of them by virtue of their pace for the first time.
“This is an absolutely fantastic result. Following our performance in Suzuka we couldn't have asked for anything more. This was another great team effort and the mechanics did a fantastic job in the pit stops. I felt comfortable in the car and so I really enjoyed it.
“At the start of the race I was taking the corners side-by-side with the other cars and we overtook the
Red Bull and Spyker cars. After the safety car went in we were really able to push and take it to the two Toro Rosso's, so for the whole time I was racing and I really, really enjoyed it.
“A big thanks to all the team, it has been a long and hard season, and I'm very happy to finish in 10th position for the last race of the year.”
With rumours persisting that he is to be replaced by
Honda test driver
Anthony Davidson next season, Yamamoto's race in Brazil for Super Aguri was potentially his last. Nonetheless, having only managed to finish his first grand prix at Suzuka, Yamamoto was thrilled to have proved so on the pace on possibly his final outing.
