The US Grand Prix weekend ended in disappointment for the Super Aguri F1 team when Franck Montagny’s race ended at the first corner and Takuma Sato saw his go just six laps further when he and Tiago Monteiro made contact while the SA05 was lying eleventh in a decimated field.

　 "This is a disappointing end to a positive weekend. At the start of the race, everyone packed into turn one and I managed to avoid the accident. I was prepared for the re-start and, after the safety car went in, I caught up to DC and Monteiro and, at the end of the straight, I was half a car length up beside Monteiro as I raced with him into turn one. He obviously saw me and he just kept pushing across me. By this time, we had already started braking, so I couldn't go anywhere and he just kept coming and I ran out of space. I had to go over the kerb to avoid him, which is very high on this circuit, and this unfortunately launched the car up and off the track."

　 Super Aguri's Takuma Sato drove a solid first qualifying session to finish in 18th position ahead of Nico Rosberg (Williams), Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and Tonio Liuzzi (Scuderia Toro Rosso), delivering his best 'earned' grid position of the season.

　 "It was a fantastic qualifying session. We made good progress throughout the practice sessions and the car has felt good all weekend. To be able to set our best qualifying position and to be competitive in quite gusty and very hot conditions is great. I am extremely happy to be in this position for the race tomorrow and would like to thank everyone in the team for their hard work so far this weekend."

　 Takuma Sato completed his scheduled programme without any major issues as Super Aguri F1 got off to an encouraging start at the US Grand Prix, while team-mates Sakon Yamamoto and Franck Montagny endured mixed sessions.

　 "It was certainly one of our better days so far this season. I am very pleased that we seem to be competitive here. We still found it hard to find the right set-up today and I was struggling through the infield section as we had an oversteer balance issue. But we had good straight-line speed, which is vital for this circuit and we made good progress throughout both sessions, so it was a good day."