MUGEN

2012.07.17

Japanese Championship Formula NIPPON Round4

Dramatic weather change causes TEAM MUGEN to finish the race with no points.

Series name: 2012 Japanese Championship Formula NIPPON Round4 FUJI SPEEDWAY
Event name: 2012 Japanese Championship Formula NIPPON Round4 FUJI SPEEDWAY
Course: 4.563km × 55 laps (250.965km)
Qualifying: 2012-07-14 sat / Cloudey / Attendance 9,500 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race: 2012-07-15 sun / Cloudy with occasional rain / Attendance 17,700 (Announcement from the organizer)

With dramatically changing weather and road conditions, TEAM MUGEN and Naoki Yamamoto found themselves at the end of this 4th round without having adjusted to such conditions. TEAM MUGEN not only lost a chance to compete in Q3, but also were not able finish the race better than 10th place, gaining no points from the race. Since TEAM MUGEN had wanted to recover a loss from the 3rd race and had fully prepared for this 4th round, they could not be other than totally disappointed at the result. At the same time TEAM MUGEN recognised that under such severe conditions, and competing at average speeds of 160km/h up to a maximum 250km/h, even subtle changes can unsettle the overall balance of the tires, suspension, and aerodynamics, which can lead to such a disappointing result.

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