Australian GP Friday Tyrrell notes

Australian Grand Prix - First Qualifying November 10, 1995

Mika Salo 12th, Ukyo Katayama 14th

The Nokia Tyrrell Yamaha team is satisfied after a good first qualifying session for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. Mika Salo and Ukyo Katayama set the 12th and 14th fastest times. Mika recorded his best time on the third flying lap with his second set of tyres (1 min 18.604 sec) and Ukyo's on the fourth flying lap with his first set of tyres (1 min 18.828 sec).

Mika Salo: "My first thoughts are for Mika Hakkinen. I saw his accident on the TV and it was a heavy crash. I really hope he is all right. I wouldn't like to go off where he did."

"We had a good session and I am satisfied with 12th fastest time. I am happy with the balance of the car even if we have slight oversteer out of corners and a little traction problem. My first set of tyres was really bad, it was more than a second slower than the second set. I am about four seconds quicker than last year around the circuit so it's all right! I enjoy the circuit much more this year, I cannot feel the bumps at all and it's easier."

Ukyo Katayama: "It's the same as usual: if I push too hard the front wheels lock under braking and the car understeers. I am not happy with the set-up today and things should improve tomorrow."

Mika Gascoyne, Deputy Technical Director: "The lay-out of the track doesn't particularly suit the 023 car and we are quite happy with 12th and 14th positions on the provisional grid. Both Ukyo and Mika did a good job. The team's best wishes go to Mika Hakkinen and the McLaren team after his accident."

Takaaki Kimura, Yamaha F1 Project Leader: "We are reasonably happy with today's positions although it is very difficult to understand why we could not improve on this morning's times. The circuit conditions are very changeable and perhaps this is affecting our lap time. For tomorrow we will have fresh engines in both cars and we will be looking for some more improvement."