German GP Tyrrell notes

German Grand Prix Sunday 29 July 1995

Ukyo Katayama claims top seven finish

Ukyo Katayama scored his best result of the 1995 season when he finished 7th in today s German Grand Prix. Ukyo drove a strong race after starting 17th on the grid. He stopped twice for fuel and tyres, on laps 14 and 30, while running 13th and 8th.

After his second pit stop, Ukyo started to suffer some problems with the downshift and could not fight with Aguri Suzuki who overtook him on lap 37 when Ukyo was running 7th.

Mika Salo was forced to retire on the first lap of the race after he lost drive after the start.

Ukyo Katayama: "I am happy and unhappy at the same time. Happy to finish the race in the top seven but unhappy not to score points. I was so close... If only Suzuki s engine could have failed before the finish line and not after! After my first pit stop the downshift started to work strangely but I could still brake late. But after my second stop, it got worse and I couldn t hold Suzuki off. The last 6 laps were very hard."

Mika Salo: "I got a good start. I selected first gear without any problem. But when I selected the other gears I felt the clutch started to slip. I thought it might be all right and kept going. But when I was in sixth gear on the first straight I lost drive altogether. 200 metres before the first chicane the drive went totally and there was nothing I could do."

Harvey Postlethwaite, Managing Director - Engineering: "Mika had a new clutch for the race and progressively lost drive on his first lap. Ukyo at the end of the race had trouble with the downshift and was unable to race Suzuki. It was unfortunate because it should have been easy for both drivers to score points. We made some progress with the handling of the car but it s a shame we were let down by a couple of mechanical problems. We will be back to Silverstone for more testing on Wednesday and Thursday with Mika and Ukyo and two cars."

Mr Kimura - Yamaha F1 Project Leader: "This race is always one of survival, especially for engines. We are pleased that Ukyo was able to finish what was a long and hard race, especially as he has had a run of bad luck recently, and so it was nice to see him cross the line. Hockenheim is a very tough circuit on engines and we are satisfied that we have had a trouble-free weekend with our engines."