Sato to compete in 2002 F1 series

Sato to compete in 2002 F1 series

Tokyo, Deutsche Presse Agentur

Japan's newly crowned British Formula Three champion Takuma Sato will join the Formula One Grand Prix series next season, Japan's Jiji Press reported Tuesday.

Sato, who became the first Japanese to win the British F3 Championship when he posted a win last month at Silverstone, will be driving for the Jordan-Honda team.

The 24-year-old Tokyo native will be the seventh Japanese full-time F1 driver and first since Toranosuke Takagi spent two seasons beginning in 1998.

Sato honed his driving skills at the Suzuka Racing School, run by Honda, and at the Suzuka circuit in Japan's central Mie prefecture, before moving to Britain in 1998. He made his mark in the British F3 series by winning four races last season for the Carlin Motorsport Racing Team.

He also has experience as a F1 test driver for the BAR-Honda team.

The Formula One season-closing Japanese Grand Prix will be staged as planned this weekend in Suzuka, the International Automobile Federation FIA said in Stuttgart on Monday.

The sport's ruling body dismissed as absolutely false reports circulating on the Internet that the 17th F1 race of the season was endangered because of the attacks by the United States and Britain against Afghanistan.

Sunday's race will decide who finishes second in the world drivers championship. McLaren driver David Coulthard has 61 points while Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello is seven points adrift.

The already-crowned world champion Michael Schumacher could also top the 800 career points mark with a victory in Japan.