Pacific GP Tyrrell Friday qualifying notes

Pacific Grand Prix - First Qualifying October 20, 1995

Mika Salo and Ukyo Katayama set the 14th (1 min 17.213 sec) and 16th (1 min 17.265 sec) fastest times in today's first qualifying session for the Pacific Grand Prix. Both drivers set their best time on the first flying lap of their third set of tyres.

Mika Salo: "I knew before coming here that it would be a difficult circuit for us because there are mainly slow corners and we had problems this session in such corners, Basically I can't find grip in slow parts but the car feels better in fast corners. It's good for me to come back to Aida but racing F1 cars on such a circuit is like flying a remote control helicopter in my living room!"

"A big thank you to my mechanics who changed the engine after the failure we had at the end of this morning's practice."

Ukyo Katayama: "I am delighted to be back in a race meeting. I prefer to be in the car than watch it on television! I am not happy with my performance today. I was expecting better, especially after the good test we had at Silverstone last week. After this morning's practice, we decided to change the differential for qualifying but it was difficult to adapt to it straight away. I will have more time in the second practice and be more competitive in final qualifying."

Mike Gascoyne, Deputy Technical Director: "After the progress we made in our last test at Silverstone, we are not satisfied with our performance today. On the other hand, the lay-out of the circuit highlights some of the difficulties we have with the car in the slow speed corners. Both drivers were happy with the balance of the car in the faster corners but are struggling to find a consistent balance in slow speed corners. We haven't got the best out of the car yet and we will improve the balance tomorrow."

Takaaki Kimura, Yamaha F1 Project Leader: "Mika suffered an engine problem this morning although it is too early to say what the cause was. We changed his engine and then had no problems this afternoon, with both engines running normally. We are using the C spec version of our OX10C which we will also run at Suzuka, although with some minor adjustments."

"Our new 3 litre engine, the OX11A, is being dyno tested at the moment and we hope that it will have its first runs in a test chassis towards the end of the year, probably in December."