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Super Aguri SA07

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Super Aguri SA07
CategoryFormula One
ConstructorSuper Aguri
Designer(s)Peter McCool
Technical specifications
ChassisCarbon-fibre monocoque
Suspension (front)Wishbones, pushrod operated torsion bars and dampers. Mechanical anti-roll bar.
Suspension (rear)Wishbones, pushrod operated torsion bars and dampers. Mechanical anti-roll bar.
EngineHonda RA807-E V8 naturally aspirated
TransmissionSuper Aguri 7-speed electro-hydraulic
TyresBridgestone
Competition history
Notable entrantsSuper Aguri F1 Team
Notable drivers22. Takuma Sato
23. Anthony Davidson
Debut2007 Australian Grand Prix
RacesWinsPolesF/Laps
17000
Constructors' Championships0
Drivers' Championships0

The Super Aguri F1 SA07 is Super Aguri F1's Formula One car for the 2007 Formula One season. It was designed by Peter McCool and is driven by Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson.

Customer car controversy

The 2007 Super Aguri is based on a re-worked RA106 chassis used by Honda F1 in the 2006 Formula One season. It has been the basis of a complaint filed by Spyker F1 against Super Aguri F1.[1] It is believed that the protest is related to articles 2.1, 2.2 and 6.3 of the F1 sporting regulations.[2] Article 6.3 of the F1 sporting regulations states: "The constructor of an engine or rolling chassis is the person (including any corporate or unincorporated body) which owns the intellectual property rights to such engine or chassis."[3] Since Super Aguri owns the intellectual property rights, they claim that the car is within the rules. Indeed the Honda F1 RA106 was sold to PJUU Inc, and Super Aguri F1 acquired the rights through them and thereafter modified the package to meet the technical regulations for the 2007 season. [2]

There is also another issue of the team's possible violation of the Concorde Agreement. Both Spyker and Williams[4] claim that Super Aguri (and both Red Bull teams) have broken Schedule 3 of the Agreement which states: A constructor is a person (including any incorporated or unincorporated body) who owns the intellectual property rights to the rolling chassis it currently races, and does not incorporate in such chassis any part designed or manufactured by any other constructor of F1 racing cars except for standard items of safety equipment, providing that nothing in the Schedule 3 shall prevent the use of an engine or gearbox manufactured by a person other than the constructor of the chassis.[5] Spyker and Williams believe that if the SA07 does indeed use components designed by Honda, they would be in violation of the Concorde Agreement.[6] The issue is yet to be clarified and the FIA will not be permitted to take action against a team curtailing the Concorde Agreement until the issue has been resolved in a court of law. Super Aguri maintains their innocence in this issue, though the matter is still of great contention.

Race history

The car performed extremely well compared to its predecessor the SA06. In qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, both drivers comfortably made it through the first knockout stage - a first for the team - and Takuma Sato managed to get through to the final ten. In race pace, the car has performed less favourably, but has still catapulted Super Aguri off the back row of the grid. In Spain they scored their first ever point after Takuma Sato finished in eighth but only after Nick Heidfeld fell to the wayside due to a pit stop error and a high attrition rate. Two races later, in Canada, Sato scored another three points in an incident-filled Grand Prix, overtaking World Champion Fernando Alonso in the process, while Davidson ran strongly, on a one-stopper, in 3rd place, before he hit a groundhog, which forced him to stop and drop out of the points. The car had frequently been more competitive than parent team Honda's RA107, although the factory Honda team finished ahead in the Constructor's Championship with 6 points, compared to Super Aguri's 4. It has been reported that the team expect to use an interim version of the SA07 at the start of the 2008 season, rather than the uncompetitive RA107.[7]

Complete Formula One Results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Points WCC
2007 Super Aguri Honda V8 B AUS MAL BHR ESP MON CAN USA FRA GBR EUR HUN TUR ITA BEL JPN CHN BRA 4 9th
Takuma Sato 12 13 Ret 8 17 6 Ret 16 14 Ret 15 18 16 15 15 14 12
Anthony Davidson 16 16 16 11 18 11 11 Ret Ret 12 Ret 14 14 16 Ret Ret 14

References

  1. ^ "Spyker lodge protest against Super Aguri". Autosport.com. 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2007-03-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b "Spyker file complaint against Super Aguri Honda". F1-Live.com. 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2007-10-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ 2007 FORMULA ONE SPORTING REGULATIONS (PDF), 2007-3-5, retrieved 2007-10-23 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ Autosport article, retrieved July 5, 2007
  5. ^ "The 1997 Formula 1 Concorde Agreement". 2006-01. Retrieved 2007-10-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Teams to meet over customer car row". Autosport. 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2007-10-23. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Bradley, Charles (ed.) (2007). "Super Aguri interim plan". Autosport. 189 (6): p.11. {{cite journal}}: |first= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)