MUGEN

2014.7.16

TEAM MUGEN won fifth prize again with Yamamoto after the Round 2!

Series name: 2014 Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Round 3 at Fuji Speed Way
Event: 2014 Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Round 3 FUJI
Course: 4.563km × 55 laps (250.965km)
Qualifying: 2014-07-12 Sat / Cloudy / Attendance 10,000 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race: 2014-07-13 Sun / Cloudy, and rain later / Attendance 17,200 (Announcement from the organizer)

The 2014 Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Round 3 was held at Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka Prefecture), the same venue as the Round 2 had been held. TEAM MUGEN competed in this race with two drivers, #1 Yamamoto and #2 Nakayama. The Round 2 consisted of two races, 25 laps for race 1, and 35 laps for race 2. This increased the race distance to 55 laps from start to finish. It was mandatory to change tires at least once during the race.

July 12th, (Sat)

■  Qualifying session
#1 Naoki Yamamoto Q1:7th position (00:01:24.624), Q2: 8th position (00:01:24.259), Q3: 7th position (00:01:23.965)
#2 Yuhki Nakayama Q1:14th position (00:01:25.232), Q2:12th position (00:01:24.936)

Super Formula features a knockout-based qualifying format with three sessions. The top 14 out of all drivers in Q1 will run Q2, and for the rest, the starting grid will be determined based on their results in Q1. The top 8 in Q2 will run Q3, and the starting grid will be determined for drivers who come in the 9th through 13th positions based on their results. Eventually, the starting grid for the top 8 drivers will be determined based on their results in Q3 as per usual SUPER FORMULA rules.

Q1 started at 14:45 under dry condition. We first simulated a time attack with tires used in the free practice. However, the session was interrupted with a red flag to collect a car which stopped in the course. It was resumed at 14:57 with remaining time of 13 minutes. Yamamoto (#1) made a time attack to win 7th position in 00:01:24.624, and Nakayama (#2) managed to win 14th position in 00:01:25.232 to make it to Q2.

In Q2, Yamamoto (#1) won 8th position in 00:01:24.259 to make it to Q3. However, Nakayama (#2) was in 12th position and could not make it to Q3 despite his record, 00:01:24.936, which was faster than his record in Q1. This made Nakayama (#2) to be in grid 12, which was his best.

Yamamoto (#1) finished Q3 in 00:01:23.965, which was 0.293 seconds behind a driver who got pole position, however, the qualifying made him to be in grid 7.

July 13th, (Sun)

■   Final Race
#1 Naoki Yamamoto 5th position (55 laps 01:26:43.292 / Best lap 00:01:25.754)
#2 Yuhki Nakayama 13th position (49 laps 01:26:57.764 / Best lap 00:01:26.661)

It was slightly overcast in the area, and the road surface was in dry condition when the final race started at two o'clock in the afternoon. Yamamoto (#1) made a good start and stayed in 7th position, however, Nakayama (#2) took his time accelerating the car and was into the 1st corner with the cars behind catch up with his car. In the confusing situation, his car was hit from diagonally backward and its front wing and wheel got broken. Nakayama (#2) drove a lap at low speed to return to the pit lane. The team repaired the car, and Nakayama (#2) came back on the track with two laps behind the others.

Yamamoto (#1) was overtaken by a following car in the 1st corner of the 3rd lap, and this made him to be in 8th position, however, he kept the position by preventing the cars behind from overtaking him after that. Nevertheless, in the 1st corner of the 21st lap when tires substantially wore, a following car overtook him. He was also overtaken in the 1st corner of the 24th lap, and he was in 10th position. Yamamoto (#1) finished the 28th lap before he made a pit stop. The team changed tires as required by the rules, and he came back on the track with his position virtually remained in 10th.

Though the race was at a deadlock, the situation changed suddenly when there were 10 laps to go. It started to rain. Four drivers ahead of Yamamoto (#1) made pit stops immediately to change tires to those for rain. However, Yamamoto (#1) considered the weather and made a pit stop after driving the 48th lap to change to tires for rain, and came back on the track. At the moment, a safety car (SC) came on to the circuit to collect a car, which stopped in the course, and made drivers to form a queue behind it.

When they finished the 52nd lap with the SC in the lead, Yamamoto (#1) was in 10th position. Then, the race resumed. Yamamoto (#1) overtook cars ahead, which slowed down as they had chosen to not change tires, and immediately moved up to 6th position in the 53th lap, 5th position in the 54th lap, and finished driving the 55th lap.

On the other hand, Nakayama (#2) was uncomfortable with a brake balancer when he finished driving the 44th lap, and he made a pit stop. While repairing the balancer in the pit garage, the rain started to get heavy, so we changed to tires for rain before he came back on the track. He finished 13th in the race, which was 6 laps behind.

■ Comments from the team director, Nagataka Tezuka

To further refine the setting on the vehicle bodies following previous two races, we made great efforts. The results in the qualifying were the best we could achieve in terms of the vehicle bodies, engines, and drivers. It was a good point that we could come close to the lead by about 0.3 seconds. Though we were in 7th position, minor things could have changed positions.

In the final race, Yamamoto made a good start and he was even faster than others in sector 3, but the speed didn't increase in straight sections, and eventually he was caught when tires wore and overtaken in the straight section. When it started to rain, we informed Yamamoto of the lap time of a car ahead and rain and road surface conditions in the home straight over the radio, and left measures to be taken for him to decide. I think he made really a good decision, and it was good that our engineers and mechanics were ready and we could let him back in the track.

For Nakayama, we have been working on the machine with him. He made it to Q2 and was in 12th position, which was his personal best, I guess. He really did a good job. I was expecting how fast he could go after he made a start, but it took an unfortunate turn. Our team staff and drivers made a good job this weekend. It seems we have more to improve settings for races, but it's also true that we have made the best of it. It's frustrating that we won 5th position, which was the same outcome that we had had last time.

It was a good aspect that Yamamoto was the fastest of Honda drivers and earned points steadily. To overcome the current situation soon, we would like to make further efforts toward better outcome in Motegi next time.

Thank you very much. We would like to ask for your continuous supports.

♦ Photo Gallery (Round3)