Jordan, Matra, Simtek, Stewart, Wolf, Tyrell, Surtees, Prost, Minardi, March; the list could go on for pages. Teams such as this have been linked by their common history as privateer teams entered into the largest Piranha tank. That list of teams left behind by the passage of time has now a new member, Super Aguri.
Outside of Super Aguri no tears will be shed by the passing of this small team, however their presence and good character will be missed in the ever shrinking paddock. Historians will record Tuesday, May 6th, 2008, as the conclusion of a dream and the end to the hope for a nation of millions. The end did not come on that May morning, however. Super Aguri’s future was doomed far earlier than the Wednesday before the Turkish Grand Prix, or the day that word broke the team’s trucks were not allowed onto the grounds of the Istanbul Circuit, or even before the start of the Australian Grand Prix.
Super Aguri’s end can be traced back to the 2007 season. Having competed with an antiquated SA06 the year before Super Aguri was getting ready to make a big splash in ’07 with their modern and “new” chassis in 2007.
F1 experts and fans will recall the first Aguri chassis, the SA05, entered by Aguri for the 2006 season. Even with the updates the car was simply a pig to drive, and quite a few drivers would complain about the moving pylon on the track. The SA05 and the SA06 that followed approximately midway through the season, were both rebadged and updated Arrows A23 chassis from the 2002 season. Nevertheless the team seemed to attract the attention and the fan base, and a dream that first started as a way for Honda to save face following the letting go of Sato was something of an anomaly.
As 2006 season drew to a close the F1 fraternity was looking at a certain rule contained in the technical and sporting regulations, and this rule was directly related to Aguri, Honda, and the plans for the little outfit’s 2007 campaign. Both Williams and Spyker were concerned of the chassis sharing as they called it, or customer cars as the FIA termed them.
“I am adamantly opposed to chassis sharing,” Frank Williams stated. “We at Williams do not believe it is legal under the current rules. We are what you might call a traditionalist racing team which believes that we are out there competing for two world championships - one for the best driver in the world and one for the constructor who builds the best car in the world. As far as I’m concerned it is absolutely in the regulations in black and white that every team must make its own chassis.”
While Frank Williams’ point was a valid one Toro Rosso and Super Aguri were in fact following the FIA rules which clearly allowed them to enter customer cars as long as the cars are designed by a third party.
2 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Saraswathi Siriginia 8 months ago
Lovely read, sorry we did not get to interact more often. Great job!
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mark andrew 8 months ago
Nice , 5 * and POTD .........just one thing tho ........the Tyrell and Mantra were the same car ....It was a Mantra powered Tyrell .....it was Jackie Stewarts car , apart from that its all good .
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