Sato ready to race

BAR's Takuma Sato is 'fighting fit' and ready to race in Bahrain this weekend after missing the Malaysian Grand Prix with a viral infection, his manager said on Tuesday.

Andrew Gilbert-Scott said the Japanese had flown to Bahrain from London on Monday after passing a full medical the day before.

"He's completely clear and the doctors say he's fighting fit," he said. "It was purely a virus and it's out of his system now.

"Taku said he's feeling very well and very fit and now he's going to get acclimatised for the race."

Sato, his country's only Formula One driver, missed the second round of the season at Sepang after coming down with a fever on the Friday night and has spent the past week resting at home in Britain.

He was replaced by team test driver Anthony Davidson for the race but neither he nor team mate Jenson Button managed to do more than three laps before their Honda engines went.

BAR, overall runners-up to Ferrari last season, have yet to score a point this year with both Button and Sato also retiring in Australia.

Button was third in the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix last year while Sato finished fifth.

The team have tested hard since Malaysia, with Davidson and Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi completing a combined total of 1,768 kms at Le Castellet in southern France last week.

"We have put a counter-measure in place for the problems that we had in Malaysia and will be doing our best to get some solid points on the board in Bahrain," said Honda Racing Development engineering director Shuhei Nakamoto.