Super Aguri - The new Forti?

[G.Walker]

Originally Posted by ss_collins

we hear a lot of super achievement - big effort etc. but how much harder have SA members worked than other teams? Sure the cad monkeys have been busy reworking the back of the car to accept a Honda V8 but how different is it from the Rinland design?

what are u on about...........

to get this team on the grid in such a short space of time is impressive, what on earth did u expect .... !!!

get a grip man

[Jordi]

To be honest, logically Super Aguri should have been miles away from the rest, Honda V8 or not, and Sato was just 4 laps down after 6 pitstops. (I suppose they took it like a test session).

In a bit of a romantic view, I'd love the new SA06 to be similar in concept to the Arrows. I always maintained that the A23 was one of the best chassis of 2002.

[karimbo]

Compare SA to Midland, given the fact that 6 weeks ago they didn't exist, they did quite well.

Compare SA to Toyota, given the fact that they are using 4 years old Arrows chassis and that Toyota is spending hunderds of millions for their chassis ...

Understand that Super Aguri are JAPANESE !!!! What does that mean ??? In Japan SUPER HIGH TECHNOLOGY IS A WAY OF LIFE. 40 years ago,people knew what Austin or Rover was and no one had heard of Honda or Subaru. Today it's the other way around.

Within a year, SA, with Japanese discipline, Japanese concern for detail, Japanese technology and some money from Honda will be very respectful...

I'm from Italian descent, and I can tell you that Forti has nothing of that. In 40 years from now, no one will know what a FIAT is.

[davyboy]

Though they had their fair share of drama, they did remarkably well. As I said earlier, with the exception of Toyota, no-one in recent years has set a team up from scratch and got two cars on the grid for the first race. Its an incredible feat and they do deserve to be applauded for it. The time for performance and results will be a lot later... certainly not within the first year.

[Suze]

They've done well, no-one can knock that, with what they've acheived in such a short space of time. But the most interesting part is not how they got on the grid or how long it took etc, it will be how they can progress from here and take the team forward.

[312T4]

In the end it was better than expected and they can only improve.

[Skam85]

The fact they are on the grid is impressive.

By my (very poor) calculations, Sato was 4 laps down, he made 6 pit stops.

4 laps = approx. 380secs
6 pit stops = 431 secs. Alonso made 2 stops, which took 53secs all up.

431-53 = 378secs lost in the pits...So Sato lost the equivalent of 4 laps in the pits, which means if he had made the normal 2 stops, he would have finished 3rd, 0.8secs behind Michael Schumacher.

I'm sure I've missed something fundamental here, but hey, maths was never my Forti... oops I mean forte...

[Draven]

Thats brilliant Skam.

[Ryo28]

Originally Posted by Alwaysfirst

Sat finished 4 laps behind which for a teams first race in a 4 year old chassis isn't that bad. Minardi have been worse in the last couple of years. I expect much improvement as the season goes on.

Exactly, Aguri are really no slower than Minardi were in the first few races last year when they had a year old car, although they obviously have the advantage of a decent engine. Once they get the 'Super BARguri' (or whatever the new car is) then they should be respectable, though it does look like Ide is on a steep learning curve...

[Gabrio]

Great achievement for a team that did not even exist on paper six months ago!

[dcp2685]

I hear what you're saying Skam, i was actually thinking similar myself. Sato spent 3 min more than most of the other drivers. 3 minutes more in the pits. That's almost 2 laps. which would have put them on par with Midland.

For a 3 year old Chassis ducttaped together and an engine tossed in the back....i'd say that's not too bad.

I was honestly expecting them to be 7 or 8 laps down at the end.

[F1 insider]

The general concencus "inside the paddock" is that Aguri won't quite make it to the end of the season.

[chillibowl]

lots of love here for the Super A, which is great as they deserve the support they are getting.

i know Max made a comment no one would take their $48 mill bond for not showing up, but they showed up anyways and made a solid go at it which attests to their character and suggets to me anyways that there are better things to come.

as far as them not making it to the end of the season... i cannot say i know whats going on in the paddock but certainly that seems a little too cynical of an assessment for so early in the season. but i guess others know more about the finances/capabilities of the team than i do. i for one hope it turns out in Super A's favour.

[arthurive]

[

Originally Posted by Menelaos

Has anyone noticed that Aguri's drivers are Ide and Sato? They're almost like computer hard discs...........

They also are both
S hort
C ourageous
aS ian
I nsouciant

[Dutton]

There pace was more respectable than I was anticipating.

I think being that close to Midland, all things considered, is a solid job.

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

I know Max made a comment no one would take their $48 mill bond for not showing up, but they showed up anyways and made a solid go at it which attests to their character and suggets to me anyways that there are better things to come.

The $48 mill bond is ridiculous if top GP2, CART/IRL and Prototype teams can't find budgets bigger than $4-5 mill. That rule was imposed by Bernie to attract only car manufacturers into F1, and with current policies there is no need to support it anymore, mostly when there are "rebel" manufacturers teams who wants to do a rebel F1 series.

Super Aguri is somehow as a "new privateer team test" for all newbies who wants to enter, so I expect success for them in order to encourage more people to income in the F1 world. It would be healthy if F1 went back to the 26-car grid as we used to see for many, many years.

[Skam85]

Originally Posted by F1 insider

The general concencus "inside the paddock" is that Aguri won't quite make it to the end of the season.

I'm not sure where you are getting all your reported 'insider' information from, so until you supply a reputable source, I will just take all the 'insider goss' as speculation and rumour.

[Sparklehorse]

Honda will wait untill super aguri are at an acceptable level and move all support to this Japanese team.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Skam85

I'm not sure where you are getting all your reported 'insider' information from, so until you supply a reputable source, I will just take all the 'insider goss' as speculation and rumour.

Veritas vincit

[Skam85]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Veritas vincit

I had to google that to find out it meant 'Truth Conquers'!!

[marcush.]

first of all ,you have to really put this into perspective.Toyota came some years ago with a lot of money ,one years of training and preparing and really everything you could dream of and were something like 3-4 sec off the pace if I remember correctly.
SA is really doing a sterling job ,considering the time they had and NOT having unrestricted ressources.Well done,i´m sure they will soon find their feet and Midland will be given a run for their money.

[rallycrosscraig]

does anyone think they really did pay that entry bond or is it all smoke and mirrors?

[BootsOntheSide]

Skam has made a common error in his figures, one I sometimes notice professional commentators and analysts making - Alonso spent 53 seconds in the pits, but he didn't lose 53 seconds there, as it would have taken him perhaps 20 seconds to cover that part of the track twice. The figure that without the pitstops Sato would ahve been close to the Midland is more accurate, which is still a mighty achievement from a patched-together team.

[Skam85]

Don't worry - my calculations were very slap-dash!