German GP Saturday Tyrrell notes

GERMAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING [01.08.98]

TURN ONE TAKES ITS TOLL

HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY, August 1, 1998 -- It was a day of drama in the Tyrrell garage for drivers Ricardo Rosset and Toranosuke Takagi. Rosset crashed heavily at Hockenheim's first corner at the end of Saturday's morning sessions and, following a medical examination, it was decided by the team that he would not take part in official qualifying. Takagi quickly got to grips with a "low-downforce" set-up on his car during the morning, setting the ninth fastest time during the first session. In official qualifying, he set his best time, of 1 min 44.961 secs, on his first run and will start tomorrow's race from 15th spot on the grid. Unfortunately, he crashed during his second qualifying run -- also at Turn One - and had to switch to the spare car to complete the session. He was unable to improve on his earlier time.

TORANOSUKE TAKAGI (No 21) Qualifying position: 15th Best lap: 1:44.961

"I am disappointed because I feel I could have got a better result. I was quite comfortable with the low-downforce set-up we were using today, but then the car got away from me at the first corner and hit the barriers hard. I returned to the garage and went out in the spare car, but couldn't better the time I did in my first run. We have what I think will be a good race set-up, so we will concentrate on fine-tuning that in the warm-up tomorrow morning. If I am able to avoid accidents and we have good pit stops, I think there is a chance of getting a good result."

RICARDO ROSSET (No 20) Qualifying position: DNQ

"I was very disappointed not to be able to take part in qualifying. It was a heavy shunt, I admit, but I feel I would have been okay to drive this afternoon. The team, however, felt it was best to follow Professor Watkins' medical advice on the matter. It's a shame because I felt we were making progress with the chassis set-up and could have improved on our best time in qualifying."

DR HARVEY POSTLETHWAITE, Managing Director, Tyrrell

"The number of off-track excursions over the last two days bears witness to the 'tip-toe' nature of these cars when running with low downforce. The fine line has caught out several 'names' this weekend as well as Ricardo and Tora. Our best qualifying of the year was within our grasp this afternoon but we finished in the gravel instead. Experience is only gained at a price, and the team now has a long evening ahead to repair all the damage. We shall be sacrificing a young virgin tonight in the hope of better things tomorrow."