MUGEN

2014.10.02

Second pole position in a row for Yamamoto! Place 7th to steadily get points!

Series name: 2014 Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Round 6
Event: 2014 Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Round 6
Course: 3.704km × 68 laps (251.872km)
Qualifying: 2014-09-27 Sat / Fine / Attendance 6,200 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race: 2014-09-28 Sun / Fine / Attendance 11,000 (Announcement from the organizer)

Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Round 6 was held at Sportsland SUGO in Miyagi Prefecture. TEAM MUGEN competed in this race with two cars, #1 Naoki Yamamoto and #2 Yuhki Nakayama. For SF14, a new type of car, it was the first time to race at Sportsland SUGO.

The setting for instantaneous maximum flow rate of the fuel restrictors was remained the same (90 kg/h) as the Round 4. (For the overtaking systems, the maximum flow rate was increased five times up to 95 kg/h during the race.) Since the Round 6 was held within a short period after the Round 5 at AUTOPOLIS, and there was a possibility that we might not be able to take enough time to change settings for the fuel restrictors and check their accuracy, we decided to use the same fuel restrictor settings with the Round 5.

Considering that it was the first race at the circuit for SF14, the special run was arranged on September, 26th (Friday) for one hour starting at 03:50 p.m. #1 Naoki Yamamoto and #2 Yuhki Nakayama also ran it. In the special run, #1 Yamamoto was in the 5th position with a time of 00:01:06.841, and #2 Nakayama was in the 4th position with a time of 00:01:06.673. Both of them finished the run confirming they were in good condition.

September 27th, (Sat)

■  Qualifying
#1 Naoki Yamamoto Q1: 1st position 00:01:06.418, Q2: 4th position 00:01:06.479, Q3: 1st position 00:01:05.894
#2 Yuhki Nakayama Q1: 15th position 00:01:07.125

The qualifying race features a knockout 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 session started at 13:10 under the sun. The track surface temperature was 28C. We quickly fixed a broken machine after the Free Practice Session. #1 Yamamoto entered the track got a good start, and he recorded the fastest time as 00:01:06.418 on the lap 3. #2 Nakayama also made a good record to get high in rankings. In the first half of the session, when drivers were about to return to pit lanes after simulating time attacks, the session was interrupted with a red flag to collect a broken-down car that stopped on the track.

The session was resumed at 13:39 with 4 minutes and 11 seconds to go. Many drivers tried to make time attacks, but #1 Yamamoto could finish 1st in Q1 since no driver broke the record he made before the interruption. On the other hand, #2 Nakayama made a time attack after the interruption and changing tires, but he was blocked by cars ahead, which slowed down, and failed to reduce time. He finished 15th in Q1, and could not make it to Q2.

Q2 session was held for 7 minutes starting at 13:54. As in Q1, #1 Yamamoto recorded time as 00:01:06.479 on the lap 2 and was in the 2nd position at the time. The session was interrupted with a red flag, and resumed at 14:11. Some drivers reduced time at that point, but #1 Yamamoto did not make a time attack, finished 4th in Q2, and made it to Q3.

Q3 session started at 14:24. #1 Yamamoto was in the 1st position when it started. Though most drivers made time attacks on the lap 1, he spend two laps to warm up tires, made a time attack on the lap 2 and recorded the time as 00:01:05.894. He finished 1st in Q3 and got the second pole position in a row.

September 28th, (Sun)

■   Final Race
#1 Naoki Yamamoto 7th position (68 laps 01:25:39.248 / Best lap 00:01:07.964)
#2 Yuhki Nakayama 14th position (68 laps 01:26:16.968 / Best lap 00:01:08.126)

The sky was completely clear since morning in the area where Sportsland Sugo was located in. The temperature before the final race was 23C, and the track surface temperature was 37C. At the moment that the signal to black out, #1 Yamamoto took a moment to accelerate the car. Two cars overtook him, and he was in the 3rd position when he started the race. Because of the multiple car accidents occurred in the second curve on the lap 1, we had a safety car run in the middle of the 1st lap, and the race was resumed on the lap 5.

In consideration of tire replacement and refueling during the race, we took a strategy of letting #1 Yamamoto start the race with a lightly-loaded car so that he could lead the race. However, he was blocked and could not overtake cars ahead to move up, though his lap time was fairly competitive with the two cars ahead. The strategy backfired on us, and he was stuck.

On the lap 17, an accident occurred in the last curve and it caused a safety car run. The cars rushed into the pits for refueling and tire replacements that were supposed to be done during the race. #1 Yamamoto also came back to the pit to replace the four tires and refuel, and he was in the 3rd position at the time. However, competitors took less time for pit stops than we did since they put small amount of fuel and replaced only left-side tires or a left rear tire. When #1 Yamamoto came back on the track, two cars, which had been behind, were ahead of him, and he actually moved down to the 5th position.

On the other hand, #2 Nakayama took a strategy of not making a pit stop during the final race. He kept on driving while considering fuel consumption, and moved up to the 3rd position apparently on the track. However, he had to minimize acceleration as much as possible to finish the race without refueling. He could not accelerate the car when the race was resumed on the lap 21 after the safety car run. Ironically, this caused a near-miss with #1 Yamamoto, who rapidly accelerated the car from behind, and they both ended up moving down.

Then, #1 Yamamoto overtook #2 Nakayama to move up more, but it was difficult for him to overtake other competitors. He tried really hard, but ended up finishing 7th in the race. #2 Nakayama encountered shortage of fuel late in the race. He made a pit stop after completing the lap 60 for refueling, and finished 14th in the race.

As a result, #1 Yamamoto got three points including one point for pole position. He now has 13 cumulative points, and he is ranked 9th. TEAM MUGEN added two points and was ranked 7th with 10 cumulative points.

■ Comments from the team director, Nagataka Tezuka

Yamamoto got the second pole position in a row in the qualifying. I give Yamamoto in the qualifying full marks. Nakayama was in a good condition during the free practice, and we expected he would do great in Q3. It is a pity that he could not make it to Q2. I hope he would search for a cause and make use of it in the next event.

In this event, the number 1 car crashed on Saturday, and the number 2 car did on Sunday. There were damages in the front of the cars, but our staff fixed them in a short period of time to get them ready in the starting grids. I really appreciate that.

#1 Yamamoto thought he would lead the race to win. We took a strategy of allowing as much time as possible for usual refueling and tire replacement, but he moved down to the 3rd position when the race started. Then, many drivers made pit stops after the second safety car run. Since it took about 12 seconds for working on the #1 car (in the pit garage), he was overtaken by competitors who had a wide variety of strategies in the pit area. It was too bad since the works in the pit garage were properly done. In addition, when the race was resumed after the interruption with the red flag, our cars had a near-miss with each other, and they were overtaken by several cars. It was such a shame. We will have to find out what caused the #2 car to be overtaken by several cars, though he was in the 3rd position at the time of restarting, and learn from them.

Except for the mistake in starting the #1 car at the start of the race, if we had more proper overall strategies and judgments, we could win at least third prize. I feel frustrated, but we have to apply lessons learned. I feel bad about the results, and I do appreciate your support. I hope we could show you that our cars could run fast. We will make further efforts and improvements so that we are able to show you our strength next time at Suzuka Circuit. We would like to ask for your continuous supports.

♦ Photo Gallery (Round6)