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Takuma Sato

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Teams

• Super Aguri

Drivers

• Takuma Sato
• Anthony Davidson

Super Aguri joined Toro Rosso, Spyker and Williams in concluding its Spanish testing programme in Barcelona on Wednesday, with drivers Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson both declaring themselves happy with the results.

With torrential rain on Tuesday leading to an extension of the test into a fourth day on Thursday, the Honda-powered team elected to conclude its test as normal on Wednesday, with both drivers having been able to complete some solid running despite the conditions.

Sato was on the pace on the opening day of the test as he worked on a series of new parts on the SA07, including a number of new aerodynamic components and an upgraded gearbox.

It a somewhat surprising turn of events, the Japanese driver ended the opening day second on the timesheets behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, with the car running faultlessly throughout the day.

While the wet weather on day two prevented any meaningful running, Sato was still able to complete some much needed mileage in wet conditions and said he was happy with how the car had performaned en route to the eighth fastest time.

"The weather was perfect on day one," Sato reflected. "There was no wind in the morning and it was great to test the new aero package for the Barcelona race in these conditions. The new gearbox performed well and we collected a lot of valuable data that day.

"Unfortunately we had very heavy intermittent rain on day two and so with no consistent weather conditions it was difficult to make a significant run.

"However, on the positive side, we had not run the SA07 properly in the wet before and so it was good to see how it went and how we need to react in wet conditions.

"All in all I think that this was a positive test for us and I am pleased with the performance of the car."

Sato handed the car over to team-mate Davidson for the final day of the test, enabling the Briton to continue evaluating different set-ups and the Bridgestone tyres ahead of next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

"After heavy rain yesterday the track was still damp and 'green' in the morning," Davidson reflected after setting the eighth quickest time. "But we found a good balance early on and tried a few different aero set-ups with good results.

"Later in the afternoon the wind speed picked up making the track difficult to drive on for the rest of the day. Even so I felt comfortable in those conditions and completed some longer runs.

"We used two different tyre specs again and they behaved as we thought they would, so we are looking forward to returning here next week and continuing with the good car balance that we have had here at the test."