Bridgestone Happy with 'Emotional' Victory

Bridgestone technical manager Hisao Suganuma was delighted after the Japanese tyre manufacturer scored an emotional victory at today's Italian Grand Prix thanks to Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello.

The Brazilian driver, starting from fourth place of the grid, completed a dominant race to give his Italian team their seventh one-two finish of the season after claiming victory ahead of teammate and World Champion Michael Schumacher.

It was Bridgestone's 13th win in 15 races this year, and Suganuma was delighted to have contributed in Ferrari's success in front of their Italian fans.

"Every win is special but to help Ferrari to such a magnificent victory at home is an emotional occasion for us all," said Suganuma. "We knew from last week's test at Monza that we were not quite there with the tyres so we decided to bring a new specification that had to be made in Japan last weekend and had not been track tested before.

"In spite of that, I was confident that it was the right decision based on what we knew about the tyre from the results of similar specifications. In fact, I would like to dedicate this win to everyone at our factory who gave up their weekend to come into work so that we could join in the celebrations today."

Frenchman Olivier Panis scored another point for Bridgestone after finishing in sixth place with the British American Racing car.