A strong San Marino Grand Prix performance saw Takuma Sato help the BAR-Honda team take its first points of the season, in fifth place.

Taku ran sixth early on, having pulled a sensational move on Mark Webber to make up a position he’d lost mid-way through the lap. Unfortunately, however, he then became stuck in a train of cars being held-up by Jarno Trulli. In the closing stages of the race Taku was to conserve his engine and brakes, but was able to hold on to fifth spot having built up a significant buffer to Jacques Villeneuve.

　 “The team has done a fantastic job, both during the tests working on the new developments and over this race weekend. The car performed very well and I enjoyed the racing here today. We are back on form with a great result and the double-points finish we wanted. At the beginning of the race, I was stuck in traffic, but I enjoyed racing side-by-side and making up on my position. The season has really started for us now here at Imola and so I am really looking forward to carrying our strong performance to our next race in Barcelona.”

　 Takuma Sato converted practice promise into an encouraging qualifying result at Imola, taking tenth place on the grid in first qualifying.

Taku’s time was just 0.9secs slower than pole winner Kimi Raikkonen, and would undoubtedly have been closer had he been able to go out later in the session. With his position on the running order compromised by retirements in Bahrain, Taku made the most of running sixth, with the team believing that the track improved by around 0.4secs after his runs.

Conditions for Sunday’s second session were made tricky by an overnight downpour, Taku made best use of his Michelin dry weather tyres to improve on his provisional position. An outstanding performance moved the Japanese up the timesheets by four places - the greatest leap by any driver on the grid.

　 "We had good pace in free practice on Saturday morning, but knew we were going to be affected by running early in the qualifying session, with the track conditions certain to improve for the drivers running later. Although I struggled with grip a little, I am reasonably pleased with my lap and everybody's lap time in the top ten was so close together. Because of this, I felt I had a good chance of improving my position on the grid. The two weeks' testing in Barcelona and Paul Ricard is paying off though and we are confident that we will be able to get our season started here in Imola."

　 An encouraging start to the San Marino Grand Prix weekend saw Takuma Sato end day one with tenth fastest time at Imola. The BAR-Honda 007 has numerous modifications for the first European race of the season, all of which were tested over the course of 20 race distances in sessions during the three-week gap since Bahrain.

Honda has also introduced an updated version of its RA005E engine which, combined with improved aero parts, allowed to carry more speed into the corners and drive with more confidence in the car.

The Japanese driver was sixth fastest in the morning session but, despite improving his lap times after lunch, slipped to tenth after encountering traffic.

　 "It was a very good day for the team. We were competitive straight away and the car performed well, showing that our form has continued from our last two tests. It seems to me that we are back on the pace, which is a really good sign and we did not have any problems. I was caught in traffic a few times, as it was a busy on the circuit today, but other than that the car was working well and we will work on the set up for the longer runs for the race on Sunday.”