18/07/2005
NEWS STORY
The Lucky Strike BAR Honda team heads back to Germany for round 12 of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship, which takes place at the Hockenheimring next weekend. After achieving a fifth place finish with Jenson Button at the British Grand Prix, the team is firmly focused on the opportunities which lie ahead in the eight remaining races.
In final preparation for the German and Hungarian Grands Prix, BAR Honda has been putting Honda's latest engine step through its paces and conducting a comprehensive programme of Michelin tyre tests and aerodynamic evaluations in southern Spain this week. Jenson Button, Takuma Sato, along with test drivers Anthony Davidson and Enrique Bernoldi, all took part in a three-car, three-day test at the Circuito de Jerez, making the most of the last opportunity to conduct on-track development before the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix in August.
Jenson Button: "The German Grand Prix last year was one of the best races of my career. To finish in second place having started from thirteenth was amazing. I have great memories from this race. There are some good overtaking opportunities which created an exciting race last year. I think that we will face the same challenges that we experienced at the British GP, but having completed two days testing in Jerez where the car felt good, I'm looking forward to the race and hope to be more competitive and have both cars finish strongly in the points."
Takuma Sato: "Hockenheim is a great circuit - the long straight with late braking provides good overtaking opportunities. We completed a good test in Jerez this week and we have made a positive step forward with a small aero upgrade, so the car is performing well. The German Grand Prix is always exciting and I believe that we can have another strong race and carry over the momentum from the British GP to Hockenheim next week."
Gil de Ferran: "We have now come from two consecutive races where we have shown that we are certainly competitive. Between the two races we have again been testing in Jerez in an attempt to further improve the performance of our car. Hopefully, some of those upgrades will have a positive impact at the forthcoming German Grand Prix.
"It is also worth mentioning that the team has had a welcome break this weekend after a very busy phase of our calendar and everyone is recharged and looking forward to the German Grand Prix, a long-established and extremely popular event with everyone."
Shuhei Nakamoto: "We now have some momentum after two points scoring races, and the task now is to close the gap to the top two teams as we aim for BAR Honda's first win. We made some more progress on the engine at the test in Jerez, and will continue development throughout the season. Jenson had a great drive here last year, when both drivers were in the points. We'll be looking for similar strong performances this time around."