Masters

[Alain]

Dit weekend worden de Marlboro Masters opnieuw verreden.
Takuma Sato start als grote favoriet en heeft zijn rol glans bijgezet door in de vrije trainingen met afstand de snelste te zijn.
Vanmiddag worden de officiële trainingen gereden en morgen wordt de wedstrijd rechtstreeks uitgezonden op Ned 2 vanaf 14 u. Kijken zou ik zeggen.
O ja, de zoon van wijlen Manfred Winckelhock is ook van de partij.

[Mark]

Saturday is Sato-day..............

om 22.30 uur op ned.2 verslag van de training........hopelijk met de grote schuiver van Sato...........

Marlboro Masters qualifying times
(Pos, Driver, Car, Time)

Even numbers
1 Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1m33.677s
2 Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme Dallara-Mugen) 1m34.216s
3 Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1m34.265s
4 Toshihiro Kaneishi (Bertram Schafer Racing Dallara-Opel) 1m34.321s
5 Tom van Bavel (JB Motorsport Dallara-Opel) 1m34.391s
6 Nicolas Kiesa (GM Motorsport Dallara-Toyota) 1m34.404s
7 Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1m34.516s
8 Tristan Gommendy (ASM Dallara-Renault) 1m34.562s
9 Andy Priaulx (Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1m34.620s
10 Mathieu Zangarelli (Signature Dallara-Renault) 1m34.731s

Odd numbers
1 Benoit Treluyer (Signature Dallara-Renault) 1m33.785s
2 Tiago Monteiro (ASM Dallara-Renault) 1m34.034s
3 Ryo Fukuda (Saulnier Racing Dallara-Renault) 1m34.211s
4 Gianmaria Bruni (Fortec Dallara-Renault) 1m34.248s
5 Anthony Davidson (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1m34.282s
6 Tony Schmidt (GM Motorsport Dallara-Toyota) 1m34.290s
7 Mark Taylor (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1m34.394s
8 Joao de Oliveira (Swiss Racing Team Dallara-Opel) 1m34.428s
9 Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) 1m34.504s
10 Nicolas Stelandre (JB Motorsport Dallara-Opel) 1m34.689s
Sato storms to Zandvoort pole

British F3 flyer takes top spot at Zandvoort




Sato eyes on the Marlboro Masters prize

It was more Sato-day than Saturday at Zandvoort as Takuma Sato blitzed qualifying to take a comfortable pole position for Sunday's Marlboro Masters of Formula 3.

The Japanese set the fastest time overall during the morning session, despite a spectacular off at the mega-speed Scheivlak corner during which his Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen Honda made light contact with the barrier.

Even so, Sato ended the session 0.6 seconds quicker than anyone else, despite only using one new set of tyres compared to his rivals' two.

"I was going quicker little by little," he said, "and then I thought 'OK - now it's time to do a little more before I pit for my second set of tyres'. I took a wider entry line to Scheivlak, but it was too wide! I kicked up dust and marbles and once I'd lost the back end I couldn't do anything. It's a shame for me because I didn't do a big lap, but it was enough for pole and I've saved my tyres."

The Carlin boys wheeled out Sato's second set just in time for him to do a lap at the end of the afternoon which left him fastest by 0.23s in the afternoon session.

By this time, the surprising Bruce Jouanny had leapt to second in the group (0.54s slower than Sato's morning time) thanks to a great performance in his Promatecme Dallara. The Frenchman had spun off at the beginning of the morning session after just two laps, so effectively had all his sets of tyres to use in the afternoon.

That pushed Andre Lotterer down to third in the group, ahead of German championship leader Toshihiro Kaneishi.

In the other group, Japanese series leader Benoit Treluyer was quickest and will therefore line up alongside Sato on the front row of the alternating grid.

The Frenchman, returning to the Signature team for which he raced in France two years ago, was 0.11s slower than Sato in heading the odd-numbered runners, and leads Portuguese Tiago Monteiro.

Ryo Fukuda and Gianmaria Bruni both improved in the afternoon session to go third and fourth, Bruni feeling that the Fortec team had made a mistake in breaking with the general consensus by giving him only one new set of new tyres for the morning's qualifying.

Renault engines dominated this group, with the top four all powered by the Sodemo-tuned motors, although Treluyer is using the older Laguna unit compared to the other three, who all have the 2001-spec Megane.

The improvements from Fukuda and Bruni left a disappointed Anthony Davidson in fifth, the Briton gutted that a much quicker lap was ruined when Fukuda spun off in front of him.

The race to even make the grid was just as dramatic, British series runners Jamie Spence and Alex Gurney both getting bumped from the field during the afternoon session.