18.03.07.  Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne.

Anthony endured a difficult start to the 2007 Championship at the first round in Melboune, Australia.  After a throttle problem leaving the garage, Anthony’s car went into anti-stall on the grid losing him several places at the start.  Shortly after the start Anthony’s car was hit on the right-hand side during an incident with one of the Spykers, which launched the car into the air and winded him as it hit the ground. Despite suffering with back pain and carrying a reasonable amount of bodywork damage for the entire race, Anthony took the chequered flag for the first time in his F1 career finishing in 16th position.

After the race, Anthony was suffering with severe back pain from the impact caused in the earlier accident.  The team and track medical staff decided to move him to the nearby Alfred Hospital in Melbourne for precautionary checks, where he spent the evening and was discharged in the early hours of Monday morning.  Anthony is now looking forward to Malaysia, and getting back on track.

Anthony’s comment after the race: “The car went into anti-stall at the start, which is such a shame as I didn't go anywhere, so obviously I was then in last place as we went into turn one. I collected myself and thought that maybe I'd get some early positions back. I went round the outside of one of the Spyker’s and they hit me quite heavily, even though I thought I'd given them enough room. The car got pitched into the air and landed very heavily and I hurt my upper back. The jolt also winded me a lot making talking on the radio difficult. I think that we've got to work on our pace for the next race, so we need to do some more long runs and understand what happens to the balance during the test in Sepang. My car suffered a lot of damage, the whole right side of the bodywork was gone, the floor's broken, and I must have lost a major amount of downforce and that obviously slows you down a lot. It was a fight, but I got to the end of the race and saw my first Grand Prix chequered flag.”

Results in brief:
 
Anthony Davidson:
Car No: 23 (SA07-03)

Position   16                
No: of Laps 56   
Fastest Lap Time 1:28.489

Weather Warm and sunny (50.8-56.7% humidity)  
Air Temperature 21.1-22.6°C         
Track Temperature 38.6-42°C


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