Sato to return to Toro Rosso testing

Eurosport - Thu, 04 Dec 16:04:00 2008

Japan's Takuma Sato will test again for the race-winning Toro Rosso team in Spain next week, keeping alive his hopes of a Formula One comeback next season.

2008 Test Montmelo Toro Rosso Sato - 0

Sato's management said in a statement that the 31-year-old former Jordan, BAR and Super Aguri driver would join the Ferrari-powered team at the Jerez circuit for their December 10-11 test.

"We obviously see this as a positive step but still nothing is decided for the 2009 racing season," said Sato's commercial manager Matthew Winter.

Sato is Japan's most successful F1 driver, having scored 44 points from his 90 races including a third place in the 2004 US Grand Prix.

However he has not competed since this year's Spanish Grand Prix in April, when Honda-backed Super Aguri went out of business.

Toro Rosso, the former Minardi team, won this year's Italian Grand Prix with 21-year-old German Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel has since moved on to the main Red Bull team and is likely to be replaced by 20-year-old Swiss Sebastien Buemi.

France's Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso's other driver this year, has yet to be confirmed and Sato - who has twice tested for the team in the last two months - would represent an experienced alternative.

The popular Sato has also been presented as a useful instrument to help Red Bull increase sales of their energy drink in Japan. Red Bull recently regained full ownership of Toro Rosso.

Reuters

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  1. friggin a.

    From wizzo, on Thu 4 Dec 11:22PM
  2. I am being censored by Yahoo,. I suppose I am the­ victim of Censorship. that's okay Yahoo. I shall­ just keep Listing. democracy isn't quite dead yet. ­ The comments below, are being removed.

    Observation. ­ I think it's more than fair to say, that the 2008­ Formula One season, has had more controversial­ decisions, than in previous years, and I think it's­ more than fair to say, that the Ferrari fan would not­ agree with this, as Ferrari have been the­ beneficiaries, of these controversial decisions. ­ Reading a lot of comments, posted on this site, again,­ I think is more than fair to say, that the Formula One­ fan, of all the other nine team's, feels let down­ by the FIA, and on top of this, Bernie­ Ecclestone's, bad management, is losing, the loyal­ Formula One fan, there Grand Prix fixture, i,e,­ America, Canada, French and German, with more to­ follow.
    What I would like to know, could a Formula One­ fan, have grounds, to sue the FIA. For example, last­ year, I went to the Monaco Grand Prix, and it cost­ about £2000. Now if I had gone this year, would I have­ grounds to sue the FIA. My reasons for asking this­ question. We now live in a society, where every day,­ somebody is suing somebody for something. For example,­ Max Mosley, sued a paper, for being caught with five­ prostitutes, and won, because it was, an infringement,­ of his privacy. So if Max Mosley can win that one,­ what's my chances, of winning against the FIA, for­ bringing the sport into disrepute, running a sport­ unfairly, showing favouritism to one team, unfairly­ penalising my team, and if you put all the video­ evidence together, crystal clear very public, and in­ your face, race fixing. Would I win? And if you­ included on top of this, some well documented, cases,­ for example, the punishment, of Honda and McLaren, the­ banning of the Renault, mass damper, and a Ferrari,­ flexing wing, and flexing floor, with no punishment. ­ Would I have a case? So if anybody out there, with­ legal knowledge, what do you think?

    From paul t, on Thu 4 Dec 9:08PM
  3. Seriously isn't Sato twitchy enough without the­ caffiene dumping?

    From F1 Kracker, on Thu 4 Dec 8:09PM
  4. don't they have message boards where folks can­ drone on, off topic about their silliness? meanwhile­ Sato is chugging redbull somewhere in Spain . . .

    From F1 Kracker, on Thu 4 Dec 8:06PM
  5. tt all i am suggesting is you are a tit cant u write­ something different.

    From Major Bumsore, on Thu 4 Dec 7:27PM
  6. oh and by the way Ferrari won the championship over­ McLaren this year, last time I checked.

    From tt, on Thu 4 Dec 6:08PM
  7. pault - get a life

    you are being censored for the mass­ posting of something unrelated to the forums you are­ posting in. More power to yahoo.

    From tt, on Thu 4 Dec 6:06PM
  8. @ [3] why don’t you try give [4] some help he sure need­ help it’s his 4th post word for word to day

    From stivsf1, on Thu 4 Dec 5:14PM
  9. paul tee, like some other LH/McRipoff followers, needs­ help, urgently.

    From Rav A, on Thu 4 Dec 5:09PM
  10. Careful Paul t!
    That smells of sewerage!

    From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, on Thu 4 Dec 2:22PM
  11. Paul T. Well considered and well written. Today two­ guys went to the European courts and won their case­ even though the House of Lords had thrown it out and­ all the courts below that previoulsy. They also got­ compensation of 32,000 pounds. And I am delighted to­ say a huge smack against invasion of privacy and big­ brother uk government. Yes you could go to court, you­ could well win, but be sure the only one making money­ on this would be the lawyer. Not less than 250,000­ pounds would be required to take such a case all the­ way, and you better be sure of winning before throwing­ that amount of cash out the window in case you loose.

    From not printable, on Thu 4 Dec 2:14PM
  12. Watch out!
    Even more danger on Spanish roads. They­ don't need any help from you Mr Sato!

    But this is­ the important bit:
    The popular Sato has also been­ presented as a useful instrument to help Red Bull­ increase sales of their energy drink in Japan. Red Bull­ recently regained full ownership of Toro Rosso.

    From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, on Thu 4 Dec 8:25AM
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