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#219528
Well well well!!

He reminded me of Sato today, with his banshee do/die manouvres...but a Sato with brains!!! :clap:
#219938
I'm guessing that most of the drivers listed have been active during the period I've been watching but the fact that I can only recall Crashajima and Sato (and then only for their mishaps rather than their successes) and a couple of the others in a vague sort of way probably means that none of the drivers made an impression. Apart from Kobayashi, of course.

It's got to be Kobi. And not just as the best Japanese driver. The man has talent and attitude.
#219946
For some reason I always thought Aguri Suzuki had won a World Championship. :rofl:

Now - if you look at that stats of Kobi's races this year, he has not been very consistent - DNFs in 7 races so far but quite clearly he always drives a great race up until his car dies, so we know he's consistent. It's the reliability issues that hurt him. And you have to admit - he is CLEARLY better than Heidfeld. I thought Pedro De La Rosa was just rubbish, and that Heidfeld was coming in to but pressure on Kobayashi and show what he's really worth.

And you can clearly see Kobayashi drives that thing way beyond it's limits. I thought he would be a typical Japanese driver - showing some talent and getting our excitement last year, but it would all be a fluke. And boy am I surprised - there might be potential Japanese World Champion on our grid. :cloud9:

And where did he come from? His stats in his pre-Formula One career are underwhelming to say the least. Just like Vettel. But those two alone are amongst the most talented drivers on the grid - they were just born to compete at this level and no other.

Maybe Toyota or Honda might return to the sport just for Kobayashi! :cloud9:
#220015
I joined the Kobayashi bandwagon last year (I am a friend on Facebook I think) and before Valencia this year I was thinking that it was a mistake but his drives since then have been spectacular, something that even Sato wouldn't be able to produce in IRL.

The Valencia drive was something special indeed. He kept the WORLD CHAMPION behind him for over 30 laps :eek: and was the only driver not to pit when the SC came out and it paid off massively. And the Sauber doesn't like the slow corners much, which made it even more spectacular.

There were only 9 overtakes at Suzuka and Koba was involved in 4 of them and they were all at the same corner! Suzuka isn't a circuit that lends itself to a lot of overtaking in the dry and he made it look easy :clap::clap: . The hairpin isn't a genuine overtaking place but the way he made it look will catch the attention of the other drivers. :bouncy1:
#220310
I was just looking on the Wikipedia page for Takuma Sato, where it is claimed that he is the most successful Japanese Driver in Formula One history. Is that only because of his Podium at the 2004 US GP?

Because quite clearly Kobayashi is close.... Will Kobayashi get it? Do you think we could see him on the podium this year? :wavey:
#220395
I was just looking on the Wikipedia page for Takuma Sato, where it is claimed that he is the most successful Japanese Driver in Formula One history. Is that only because of his Podium at the 2004 US GP?

Because quite clearly Kobayashi is close.... Will Kobayashi get it? Do you think we could see him on the podium this year? :wavey:


Not this year, but soon enough he will move to a bigger team, if Sauber doesn't get better cars in the next seasons.
#220507
I have been a big fan of Kobayashi since I saw him pop up at the end of last year. He had something that alot of drivers seemed to lack. Driving that was exciting to watch. I lost heart a little when he seemed to drop into the background at the start of the year but japan certainly showed he has great potential.

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