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Sato and Buemi vie for Toro Rosso seat

Tuesday 2nd September 2008

Takuma Sato and Sebastien Buemi will go head-to-head during testing in Jerez later this month for a racing seat at Toro Rosso next year.

Sebastian Vettel's departure to Red Bull at the end of the season has left STR with a vacant seat for next year.

Sato has been in the F1 wilderness ever since Super Aguri folded earlier this year, and he will get an opportunity to prove his worth later this month.

Buemi is a GP2 race winner and also a Red Bull junior driver.

Team Principal Franz Tost says Toro Rosso are starting to cast an eye on next year's driver line-up.

"The time has come to try and find a suitable replacement for Vettel, who is joining Red Bull Racing next year," Tost said.

"The Jerez test, the last one of the season, will give us an opportunity to evaluate Buemi and Sato at the same time, as they are both possible candidates for a 2009 seat.

"Buemi is an obvious candidate, because not only is he already part of the Red Bull family, he is currently performing well in the GP2 series. As for Sato, he has proved worthy of a place in Formula One and would be a good fit with the Red Bull spirit, while his recent F1 experience would be undoubtedly valuable to our team."

Sato, who also had a spell with BAR, is over the moon to get a chance to test with STR.

"I am delighted to be given this opportunity to get back behind the wheel of a Formula One car, after my season was cut short following the Spanish GP," he said.

"It will be especially interesting working with a team that has made so much progress over the course of the year."

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