| DRIVERS
STANDING |
Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of motorsport, Bridgestone Motorsport, gives
his views on... 2001
"Another constructors'
championship, Michael Schumacher winning his fourth drivers' title on
Bridgestone tyres with four races to go and, in France, the 50th grand
prix victory for Bridgestone in front of our president, Shigeo Watanabe
- 2001 was a year to remember for everyone involved in our Formula 1 programme.
We had competition again for the first time in three years and it was
especially pleasing for me to see our technical group working so hard
to stay ahead of the opposition. It was an interesting year for tyres,
generally - people were talking about them and analysing their performance
to a much greater degree than before, and we witnessed how much our designers
and engineers were able to make improvements on 2000. Overall, I was delighted
with the final result last year."
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Teams and drivers
"At Bridgestone we have always tried to develop close relationships
with our teams - myself with managers, our engineers and technicians
with the team engineers, and on the marketing/PR side. Everyone worked
well together in 2001 - we responded promptly to any requirements the
teams had and we did our best to offer them the best products. We will
continue that this year. We saw some fantastic performances from our
drivers - the top three places in the championship and Michael wrapping
up the title so early meant that we were able to start looking ahead
to 2002 much earlier. Michael's qualifying performance at Suzuka astounded
everbody and was a sign of exciting times to come. I am delighted to
see a new Japanese driver joining Formula 1 - Takuma Sato did a very
good job in F3 and all of Japan will be watching his progress. And I
hope Ryo Fukuda, test driving for Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda, will be
another Japanese name for the future."
Supplying five teams
"Unfortunately, we are not working with McLaren Mercedes this year after
a four-year relationship but we respect their decision to go. Our target
is to ensure one of our contracted teams wins the 2002 championship
and the rest score as highly as possible. We have Scuderia Marlboro
Ferrari and Sauber Petronas, powered of course by Ferrari
engines; OrangeArrows working with Ford Cosworth this year; and
Jordan and Lucky Strike B.A.R. both powered by our friends
at Honda. We began working with Honda many years ago and we are confident
that they will do a good job this year and help the teams they supply
to be successful. Clearly, our goal is to assist in making this season
a successful one for all our contracted teams."
A fresh challenge
"Throughout 2001, drivers on Bridgestone tyres dominated the podium.
This year, it will be more difficult to achieve that. However, I think
the fans will be happier because the competition looks likely to be
closer. For us too, a challenge makes life more interesting and more
motivating for our staff. I am expecting it to be a tougher season but
there is no doubt it will be an exciting one. I am positive and confident
that we, together with our teams, will be celebrating more success by
the end of the season."
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