Takuma Makes an Impression at Monaco

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By Phil
May 20 2002

For the second time in as many weeks, Jordan's Takuma Sato has had another prang. Driving a historic Lotus 49B, once driven by Graham Hill, Takuma hit the barriers at the swimming pool section of the Monaco street circuit during qualifying for the Grand Prix Historique de Monaco.

Sato was unhurt but the car had to be shelved as Lotus did not have any parts to repair the damage.

Sato said: "It was very, very slippery where it occurred. I was really enjoying it and the power was okay but there was just so much oil and I was perhaps carrying too much speed into the corner. It's such a shame but whenever I race I drive hard and want to do well. The only way to learn a circuit is to drive to the maximum."

As a result, Takuma has been warned by Jordan to take it easy at Monaco.  The team will have only one spare chassis at Monaco, thanks to the incredible accident at the A!-Ring last weekend.

Gary Anderson said "Giancarlo knows Monaco very well but it will be a whole new experience for Takuma, driving a Formula One car there for the first time.  It's promising that he did a good job and exercised control in winning the Formula Three event last year at Macau, a street circuit with similar constraints to Monaco. Any lost time will be a blow, so if we have any problems or damage to the car it's more trouble than usual. Qualifying is everything at Monaco and we can only take three cars since Takuma's car was damaged beyond repair in Austria. The pressure is to conserve what we have, so the drivers need to respect the barriers and stay clean and tidy with their driving."