| The San Marino Grand Prix. Round 4. - 12th - 14th April 2002 Enzo e Dino Ferrari Circuit, Imola. |
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| Race Preview | ||
Imola is the only circuit, other than Brazil, to run in an anti-clockwise direction. Opened in 1952, the then fast track underwent revisions following the race in May 1994 when Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger tragically died. The fast corners have been slowed by chicanes, making this circuit heavy on braking with good acceleration power needed out from the many second gear corners. Imola is therefore one of the higher downforce circuits, with the track gradients making it a race for the fittest. The Jordan team head to the race hoping to score their first points of the 2002 season. Armed with a new evolution of Honda's V10 engine and small chassis improvements, drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato will be aiming to repeat the team's success in San Marino last year when both cars finished inside the top six. In preparation for the Italian race the team completed three days of testing at Valencia last week, where according to a Jordan press release they focussed on wet and dry set-up, traction and launch control, tyre testing for Bridgestone, assessing new brake components and continuing work on Honda's engine development programme, trying the latest evolution of the Honda RA002E on the last day.
The changes made to the Imola circuit have not stopped it being a good race track, according to Giancarlo Fisichella. “I have happy memories of Imola as I won my first Formula 3 race here, in the rain," he said. "The circuit has changed quite a lot since then, in order to make it safer, and although it is still an exciting track where at times you have to be careful, I did prefer it before. This might be Takuma Sato's first year in Formula 1, but he is not new to European motorsport having won last year's European F3 championship. As a result he knows that nobody loves their racing like the Italians. "I am really looking forward to racing in Italy because I know what the atmosphere will be like there. Another reason I expect to enjoy my stay in San Marino is that I love Italian food!" he joked. “Things have been busy after Brazil as we flew straight back to Europe and immediately to Valencia (for testing), so I have had just a few days at home to relax and work on fitness before I go to Imola." Speaking about his experience of the new Honda powerplant Takuma said, "I can already feel more power and top end so I am hopeful for the next races. Honda is working hard to make the engine even better and I am sure they will get there."
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| The 2002 Championship Standings |
