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.