Preview Pacific Grand Prix
October 12, 1995

Ukyo Katayama Fit for First Home Grand Prix

Ukyo Katayama will return to Grand Prix racing for the Pacific Grand Prix on 
the 22 October after missing the European Grand Prix a fortnight ago. For 
the first time since his accident at the start of the Portuguese Grand Prix, 
Ukyo drove a Tyrrell Yamaha on Tuesday and Wednesday, at Silverstone, and 
set very competitive lap times (1 min 30.0 sec).

"I was a bit nervous before getting into the car," said Ukyo. "The first 
three laps went well. Then, all of a sudden and for the first time since the 
accident, I started to remember everything that happened during the crash! 
My legs and my arms started to hurt again and it was very strange! I kept on 
driving and everything went back to normal quite quickly."

"I am delighted to be back," continued Ukyo. "And it will be special because 
the next two races are in Japan. I am fit and relaxed and I am looking 
forward to a strong performance in my country. Last year I had a lot of 
pressure at Suzuka because everybody was expecting so much from me. This 
year, with Aida a week before Suzuka, it will help me to be better 
prepared."

Harvey Postlethwaite, Managing Director - Engineering, said: "We had an 
excellent test at Silverstone with Ukyo and Mika setting their quickest lap 
times of the year on this circuit (1 min 30.2 sec for Mika). The objective 
with Ukyo was to give him the opportunity to get back into the swing of 
driving and he set a time which would have placed him 7th on the grid at the 
British Grand Prix!. With Mika, we ran a normal test programme in 
preparation for the last three races and we also tested some new components 
for next year's car."

Mika Salo is pleased to go back to Japan where he spent four years racing in 
the All-Japan F3000 Championship and said: "It's nice feeling to go back to 
Japan and racing at Aida will be like home Grand Prix for me too! For a 
change this season I will know the circuit very well. It is an easy track to 
learn and I will only have a small advantage on Friday morning. We had a 
good test at Silverstone and I feel we could be more competitive than in 
recent races."

Mike Gascoyne, Deputy Technical Director commented: "The TI circuit is and 
interesting high down force track, relatively small, very twisty. The only 
straight is on the back of the circuit which is quite fast. The only real 
overtaking point is at the hairpin at the end of that long straight. 
Traction and engine torque are crucial. Technically, it's a circuit fairly 
similar to the new Nurburgring or Argentina."

The Pacific Grand Prix will be held on the 3.703 kms / 2.301 miles TI 
circuit near Okayama, one of the shortest tracks in Formula One after 
Monaco. The 83 lap, 307.349 kms / 191.019 miles race will start at 13.00 
hours local time on Sunday 22 October and is expected to last 1 hour 45 
minutes.