Honda Sabotage Super Aguri

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Honda's floundering F1 team has been sabotaging Super Aguri's efforts, according to rumors at Spa and reports on Speed TV.

Sources close to the Super Aguri team say that Honda effectively sabotaged its customer outfit’s chances at Spa.

Super Aguri were not allowed to use a wing design that it had used at the Spa test in July and found to be very competitive. Instead come the race weekend Honda provided Aguri only with less effective options, including a Barcelona-spec wing.

After Sato and Davidson qualified 19th and 21st, the team's sporting director Graham Taylor said: "We are in the position our opposition has wanted for a long time now. They've expected us to be at this level and, sportingly, we have succumbed to their behest."

Indeed Anthony Davidson was so frustrated by the performance of his car in qualifying spec that he opted to drop out of parc ferme and start from the pit lane with a different wing fitted.

Ironically, in the race Takuma Sato still managed to fight his way past Jenson Button by going around the outside at the corner at the end of the straight, much to the embarrassment of the works team.

In the end, Honda's works team fared little better, however, and remain two points behind the satellite squad run by former Japanese driver Aguri Suzuki.

It is also rumoured that flagging support for Super Aguri from Tokyo has forced Suzuki to sell a considerable portion of his team to an unnamed Japanese businessman.

The team has said that it is still concidering building its own car next season rather than use a Honda "customer car." I certainly hope they do. They have been called "the new Minardi," everybody's second favorite team. With their own car, a better engine and no sabotage from Honda, I think they could try for "best of the rest."

Super Aguri-Cosworth, anybody?

Cos