30/06/2007
NEWS STORY
Sunshine and warmer temperatures welcomed the Formula One teams as they arrived at the Circuit de Magny-Cours this morning. Following an issue-free third practice session, Super Aguri drivers Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson both fell victim to the track's narrow pitlane and subsequent traffic accumulation at the end of Q1 and will start tomorrow's 2007 French Grand Prix in 19th and 20th positions respectively.
Takuma Sato: It was a tough Qualifying. Everybody's lap times were so close and we just couldn't make it through to Q2, which is extremely disappointing. We made some progress over the weekend, but it wasn't enough to reach where we wanted to be. I think tomorrow will be a very exciting race because I believe that our pace is relatively strong. I am starting at the back of the grid, but I will try my best.
Anthony Davidson: It was a bit of a frustrating day. I couldn't get out in the last run due to getting caught in the pitlane traffic. I had to let a whole group of cars go and because we were trying to find a gap meant that I crossed the line just a second too late to do my quick lap. The car was feeling like it had a nice balance this morning though and I was actually up on my time at the end of the session, which was a shame. But I think that we've got a good car for the race tomorrow and we'll see what we can do.
Graham Taylor, Sporting Director: Tough day. We knew that the closeness of the pack and the layout of this circuit would not do us many favours and it didn't. It was tight all of the way through; a couple of tenths here and there and we would have got through to Q2, but that would have been fortuitous I think. It was a shame for Anthony to miss out on his second run by just one second. Everyone came out of the pitlane together and he just couldn't get his nose in which meant that he got shuffled down to the back of the pack. It's going to be a tough day tomorrow.
To check out our Magny-Cours qualifying gallery, click here