Honda ‘sabotaged’ Super Aguri at Spa

(GMM) Honda "sabotaged" satellite operation Super Aguri's Belgian grand prix in a bid to save the works team from further embarrassment, according to rumors after the Spa Francorchamps event.

The website of American broadcaster Speed TV cited "sources close to" the Leafield based team as accusing its engine and chassis supplier of not allowing Super Aguri to use a wing that it tested successfully at the Spa test in July.

Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato were subsequently offered less effective options, including a Barcelona-spec wing, whereafter Davidson said his car was "undriveable".

After Sato and Davidson qualified 19th and 21st, the team's sporting director Graham Taylor said: "We are in the position our opposition has wanted for a long time now. They've expected us to be at this level and, sportingly, we have succumbed to their behest."

In the end, Honda's works team fared little better, however, and remain two points behind the satellite squad run by former Japanese driver Aguri Suzuki.

It is also rumored that flagging support for Super Aguri from Tokyo has forced Suzuki to sell a considerable portion of his team to an unnamed Japanese businessman.

The deal could be unveiled next week at Fuji.