23/09/2010
NEWS STORY
Mat Coch writes:
Describing the Marina Bay circuit as "sexy", Kamui Kobayashi was in a playful mood on Thursday when speaking with the press. The Japanese driver, who has been something of a revelation in the latter half of the 2010 season, proved he is as difficult to handle off the circuit as on it, in the lead up to this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.
"It's very difficult to remember the left or right corners," he says of the Marina Bay circuit, having experienced the track in the team's simulator last week. "They're all blind corners... It's very tough."
The combination of ninety degree left and right hand corners is a common feature among street circuits, one Kobayashi himself identified before dismissing it in the next breath.
"We don't care about ninety-degrees or not," he chirped when asked if the angular nature of the circuit would suit his car, quickly adding that "the track seems to be very bumpy."
Trying to stay on the same page as the 24-year-old, a fact the Japanese driver seemed to be enjoying, the media asked if he'd been out on track and experienced the bumps.
"No," came the reply, "everybody says it's bumpy."
Would the bumps help perhaps? "I don't think it's good for us, being bumpy," he laughed. "But you never know."
Set to remain with Sauber for 2011, a point which seemed in little doubt, the Japanese driver looks set to taunt his rivals (and the media) for a few more years yet.