Suzuki praises team effort ahead of debut

The Japanese squad faced a race against time to make it onto the grid of Sakhir after becoming an eleventh hour entry this year. 

With only one proper test in Barcelona, Super Aguri will make their Grand Prix debut in Bahrain using a revised 2002 Arrows chassis and powered by Honda engines.

Although Suzuki admits the start will be hard, he claims the team are determined to fight their way to the top.

"The first race of the 2006 F1 season is a milestone for Super Aguri Formula One," said Suzuki. "It is an amazing achievement that we have put together an F1 team in only four months and I am very proud of everyone involved.

"As a new team we have many personnel who are new to Formula One and we are all very much looking forward to arriving in Bahrain. We know that we will experience very hot weather and high track temperatures, so a top priority will be looking after our tyres during the race.

"At our test in Barcelona we finalised with Bridgestone our tyre choice for Bahrain and the Honda engine has been running well. We know that we have a challenging year ahead, but we are determined and have great team spirit which we hope you will see this weekend."

Takuma Sato, who will drive for the team alongside Yuji Ide, echoed his team principal's comments about the task ahead, but admitted he can't wait to get racing.

"I am very excited to be going to Bahrain with a brand new team," said Sato. "They have done a great job to ensure that we made it to the first race - and that is a fantastic achievement.

"We shook down the car with our 2006 aero package last week and although we did not get to do much running due to bad weather, the car worked well immediately.

"It will feel very different starting the season in Bahrain. The circuit in Sakhir provides an exciting race, but it is demanding on the car, especially on the brakes due to the number of low-speed corners and the heat. We know that it will be a difficult start for what will be a very challenging year, but we are very much looking forward to it."

Ide, who will make his Grand Prix debut too this weekend, was also excited about his first race.

"I have been studying race simulations to learn the Bahrain circuit and the braking for the first corner looks challenging," he said. "I have never visited Bahrain, so I am excited to go. I am expecting tough conditions as it is my first F1 race but also because of the hot weather.

"I have driven in the heat at Sepang in Malaysia for Formula Nippon, but I know that dry heat will be very different. Whenever I race in hot conditions I am very careful to monitor my liquid intake and take care of what I am drinking for my re-hydration.

"The anticipation of my first Formula One race is nearly over and I am very excited about it."