Sakon Yamamoto
| Sakon Yamamoto | |
|---|---|
| GP2 Series career | |
| Debut season | 2007 |
| Current team | BCN Competicion |
| Car number | 18 |
| Starts | 11 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
Sakon Yamamoto (山本 左近, Yamamoto Sakon, born on July 9, 1982 in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture) is a Japanese Formula One racing driver, currently with the Spyker team.
Before Formula One
Yamamoto began his racing career in 1994 at the Suzuka Circuit Racing School (Karting), and worked his way up through the ranks, to become the test/third driver for the Jordan Formula One team for one weekend (Japan) during the 2005 Formula One season.
Formula One
At Super Aguri F1
On June 8, 2006, Sakon Yamamoto joined the Super Aguri F1 team as their test driver and third driver on grand prix weekends, helping Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny in Friday's free practice sessions. Yamamoto replaced Montagny in the second team car at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. He did not enjoy a particularly successful start to his career, however, with a mechanical failure and a stalled engine restricting him to a total of one lap in his first two races. He also damaged one of the team's new SA06 chassis in a crash during Free Practice at the German Grand Prix. He then spun out of his third Grand Prix in Turkey, a disappointment after outqualifying Sato for the first time.
At the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Yamamoto had a major effect on the championship after suffering a tire delamination during qualifying, which consigned him to last place on the grid. Later on in the session, Fernando Alonso punctured a tyre on debris from this incident, an occurrence which would eventually result in the points leader being penalised for blocking Felipe Massa and dropping from fifth to tenth on the grid. During the race, Yamamoto suffered hydraulic problems and had to start from the pit lane, eventually retiring when it became terminal.
At the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, however, he finished for the first time, albeit four laps down in sixteenth place. After the race, his enjoyment was spoiled when Nick Heidfeld admonished him for an incident on the last lap which had dropped the German from 4th to 7th place. However, Heidfeld had mistaken Yamamoto for Sato, the driver who caused the incident, and apologised for his mistake before the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.[1]
Yamamoto finished the season strongly with three consecutive finishes, an upturn in form after retiring from his first four Grands Prix. He also set the seventh fastest lap during the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.[2] However, this was not enough to prevent him losing out to Anthony Davidson in the race for the second Super Aguri race drive in 2007. However, he remained as a test driver at Super Aguri.[3] This was combined with him competing in the 2007 GP2 Series season with BCN Competicion.[4]
At Spyker F1
With the departure of Christijan Albers from the Spyker F1 team after the 2007 British Grand Prix, a position on the grid became available. On 26 July 2007, after Markus Winkelhock filled the seat at the event-filled 2007 European Grand Prix, Spyker confirmed that they hired Yamamoto from Super Aguri for the remainder of the 2007 Formula One season by Spyker.[5] It has yet to be seen if he can do better than the racers that preceded him, but during his maiden Grand Prix at Hungary, he crashed out on lap 4.
Complete Formula One results
(key)
| Yr | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Jordan Grand Prix | Jordan EJ15B | Toyota V10 | AUS |
MAL |
BHR |
SMR |
ESP |
MON |
EUR |
CAN |
USA |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
HUN |
TUR |
ITA |
BEL |
BRA |
JPN TD |
CHN |
- | - |
| 2006 | Super Aguri F1 | Super Aguri SA05 | Honda V8 | BHR |
MAL |
AUS |
SMR |
EUR |
ESP |
MON |
GBR TD |
CAN TD |
USA TD |
FRA TD |
26th | 0 | ||||||||
| Super Aguri SA06 | GER Ret |
HUN Ret |
TUR Ret |
ITA Ret |
CHN 16 |
JPN 17 |
BRA 16 |
|||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team | Spyker F8-VII | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | AUS |
MAL |
BHR |
ESP |
MON |
CAN |
USA |
FRA |
GBR |
EUR |
HUN Ret |
TUR 20 |
ITA |
BEL |
JPN |
CHN |
BRA |
24th | 0* |
GP2 Series Record
| Season | Team name | No. | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final placing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | BCN Competicion | 18 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27th* |
*Season in progress.
References
- ^ ITV.com article, retrieved October 7, 2006
- ^ Formula1.com data, retrieved October 23 2006
- ^ "Super Aguri names Sakon Yamamoto as second test driver". Grandprix.com. 2006-12-27. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Yamamoto for BCN". Grandprix.com. 2007-01-18. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Spyker confirm Yamamoto deal". Autosport.com. 2007-07-26. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Sakon Yamamoto Official Website (Japanese)
- Sakon Yamamoto Racing Profile at the Formula Nippon Official Website
- Sakon Yamamoto profile and 2006 statistics
