Zoom Sato wants his place on the F1 grid

Takuma Sato's manager has confirmed that he is fully concentrated on trying to bring the Japanese racer back to the Formula One grid.

It emerged recently that, following the demise of the Super Aguri team, 31-year-old Sato turned down offers to contest in Le Mans and American series in order to focus on resurrecting his F1 career.

The latest rumour is that Sato, who debuted in 2002 and has contested approaching 100 Grand Prix, is linked with one of the Toro Rosso race seats for 2009 -- a good fit, given Gerhard Berger's desire for an experienced hand, and sponsor Red Bull's efforts to crack the difficult Japanese drinks market.

His manager Andrew Gilbert-Scott, a former race driver himself, confirmed to GPWeek that putting Sato back on the grid is his focus at present.

"Formula One is all we are thinking about," the Briton said. "It's where Takuma deserves to be, and naturally we are talking to a number of people about 2009."

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Source: GMM