MUGEN

2015.8.27

Despite concerns about the vehicle settings, TEAM MUGEN finished in 8th place, scoring points.

Series name: 2015 Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Round 4
Event: 2015 Japanese Championship SUPER FORUMULA Series
Round 4 MOTEGI 2 &4
Course: 4.801km × 52 laps (249.652km)
Qualifying: August 22 (Sat) / Fine / Attendance 11,000 (Announcement from the organizer)
Race: August 24 (Sun) / Cloudy / Attendance 15,000 (Announcement from the organizer)

Round 4 of the 2015 Japanese Championship SUPER FORMULA Series was held on August 22 (Sat) and 23 (Sun) at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Tochigi Prefecture.

Following the first race last year, this was the second time for TEAM MUGEN to race at Twin Ring Motegi with the SF14. Beginning from this race, we are using a new specification engine for the second half of the 2015 season.

Because the layout of the Twin Ring Motegi circuit places an extremely high load on the brakes, in the same way as last year we lowered the maximum instantaneous fuel flow limit of the fuel restrictor in order to reduce the brake load, reducing it from the 95 kg/h that we used in Round 3 to 90 kg/h. When the overtake system is used, this limit is increased by 10 kg/h for a period of 20 seconds in the same way as before.

August 22 (Sat)

■  Free practice first round
#16 Naoki Yamamoto, 15th position (00:01:35.064)

We conducted an exclusive drive for 1 hour beginning from 08:30 on Saturday the 22nd. The weather at Twin Ring Motegi was clear with a thin layer of clouds. The course was dry, however after starting #16 Naoki Yamamoto found that he was not satisfied with the pre-adjusted settings, and he searched for the right direction to adjust the settings as he drove.

At the last stage of the session, #16 Naoki Yamamoto returned to the pit and changed the tires for a time attack simulation. With 6 minutes remaining in the session, he entered the course and warmed up the tires, then ran a time attack and recorded a time of 00:01:35.064. At this stage, the top time was 00:01:33.834 and our time was far behind.

Finally, #16 Naoki Yamamoto ended the exclusive drive session in 15th place out of 18 cars. The team started reviewing the settings in preparation for the official qualifying session that afternoon.

■  Official qualifying
#16 Naoki Yamamoto (Q1:12th position, 00:01:33.858, Q2: 7th position, 00:01:33.260, Q3: 8th position, 00:01:33.700)

The three knockout formula qualifying sessions started at 13:15. The conditions were dry - the same as during the morning. The overhead clouds had gradually thinned, with occasional bits of sun shining through.

#16 Naoki Yamamoto entered the course for the 20 minute Q1 session near the rear of the pack, and on the 4th lap clocked 00:01:34.826 before returning to the pit. With less than 7 minutes left in the session, outfitted with new tires, #16 Naoki Yamamoto entered the course for a time attack. On the 8th lap since the start of the session, he recorded a time of 00:01:33.858, which was the top time at this stage. However he then delayed his time attack as he waited for course conditions to improve, and rival cars bested this time. Although his position dropped, #16 Naoki Yamamoto finished Q1 in 12th place, advancing to Q2.

The level of the machine was still not satisfactory, and based on the driver's impressions the team made fine adjustments to the settings, sending the car to the 7 minute Q2 session starting at 13:45. After entering the course, #16 Naoki Yamamoto warmed up the tires for one lap and then began his time attack, clocking a time of 00:01:33.260 which put him in 6th place. He subsequently dropped one position to finish Q2 in 7th place, advancing to Q3. He was only 0.197 seconds behind the top time.

The team felt that they had made progress with the direction of the settings and proceeded to make further fine adjustments in preparation for the 7 minute Q3 starting at 14:02. #16 Naoki Yamamoto took one lap to warm up the tires and then began his time attack. However he took the first corner too sharply and called off the attack. A new time attack on the next lap recorded a time of 00:01:33.700. However tire performance had passed its peak and he ended in 8th place.

August 23 (Sun)

■   Free practice, second session
#16 Naoki Yamamot, 7th position (00:01:35.841)

A second exclusive drive was conducted for 30 minutes starting from 9:50 in preparation for the final race. The skies above Twin Ring Motegi were partly sunny but black clouds were approaching and the weather was unstable. The course was dry.

Breaking from his usual practice, #16 Naoki Yamamoto aggressively recorded times as he drove several laps in order to check the settings. 10 minutes into the session, #16 Naoki Yamamoto had recorded the second best Honda time of 00:01:36.048, putting him in 7th position. #16 Naoki Yamamoto then entered the pit, where further fine adjustments to the settings were made before he reentered the course. After a practice start at the pit road exit, he entered the course and achieved a faster time of 00:01:35.841.

However a light rain began to fall when there were 10 minutes left in the session, and when a car stopped in the course, the session was interrupted by the red flag while the car was recovered. The session was ended and after the stopped car was recovered, #16 Naoki Yamamoto shifted to practice starts to end the 2nd exclusive drive.

■   Final Race
#16 Naoki Yamamoto, 8th position (52 laps / 01:24:35.637 / Best lap 00:01:36.264)

Around noon, the skies over Twin Ring Motegi began to fill with black clouds, followed by a downpour that completely wet the course. However the rain stopped and the course began to dry around the 15:00 start of the final race. At 14:10, wet conditions were declared and an 8-minute warm-up driving session was held from 14:20. #16 Naoki Yamamoto installed wet course tires and drove 4 laps before returning to the pit.

The clouds above the course began to break up and the course line began to dry. When they entered the course to line up on the dummy grid, #16 Naoki Yamamoto and all the other cars had installed dry course slick tires. The temperature was 26 degrees, which was low for this time of year.

Starting from the No. 8 position, #16 Naoki Yamamoto accelerated well and passed the machine ahead as he headed into the first corner. However partly because the road surface was not completely dry, the driving lines intersected and he lost his opening and fell to 10th place at the end of the first lap after bumping slightly against the surrounding cars on the third corner, fifth corner, and V corner. As the car bumped against the other cars, the end of the nose cone became damaged.

#16 Naoki Yamamoto continued the race, keeping an interval of slightly more than one second from the car ahead. Due to the layout of the course, it was not easy to narrow this gap. Because some of the higher-position vehicles stopped for early pit work, #16 Naoki Yamamoto's apparent position rose to No. 8 on lap 11, No. 7 on lap 12, No. 6 on lap 16, and then No. 5 on lap 22.

#16 Naoki Yamamoto entered the pit at the end of lap 27 after passing the midpoint of the race. He replaced only the rear tires so as to shorten the loss time before returning to the race. At this point, his apparent position had fallen to No. 12, but due to cars making later pits stops, his position rose to No. 11 on lap 29, No. 10 on lap 31, No. 9 on lap 32, and No. 8 on lap 34. Although he had not been able to overtake the other cars on the course, the pit strategy and work had lifted him by 2 positions.

#16 Naoki Yamamoto set his best lap times as he pursued the car ahead, but as expected he was unable to close the interval of more than one second from the car ahead. In the final phase of the race, three cars formed a group as they competed for 6th place. However he was unable to reverse the positions and #16 Naoki Yamamoto finally took the checkered flag in 8th place. As a result, he added 1 point to his series score for a total of 7 points, putting him in 7th place in the drivers' score rankings. 1 point was added to TEAM MUGEN as well, putting them in 7th place in the team score rankings.

■ Comments from driver, Naoki Yamamoto

It was a hectic weekend. With the new specification engine, the upshift and downshift feel was a bit different, and my impression was that the previous engine felt like a better fit. We made a lot of adjustments over the weekend, including to the shifting feel, but we never did get the balance that I was looking for. With more adjustments, we finally just made it to Q3.

For the first time since I started driving this car, I got a good start that went exactly as I had planned it at the start of the final race. However my position was not good and I lost my opening, and was forced to positions farther back as I bumped into other cars on the third corner, fifth corner, and V corner.

To be honest I am worried about the car's final settings. With new tires it can put forth a lot of energy at once, but in the final race control became more difficult as the tires became worn. Moreover at Twin Ring Motegi, although I tried to close the gap of around one second, unfortunately I was not able to get any closer. This is why I wanted to get a better position at the qualifying sessions. With renewed clarity, I understand that this is the way to win at Motegi.

Looking at last year's result's we performed well and got the pole position at Autopolis, Sugo, and Suzuka. However, I do not think that just because things went well last year that we will do the same again this year.

Because we are dealing with pinpoint settings, if we do not perfectly identify the necessary conditions of the car before bringing it to the course, making adjustments at the race site will be difficult. Although we no longer have a chance of being the series champion this year, I think we need to record good speed and results to help our prospects for next year as well.

■ Comments from the team director, Nagataka Tezuka

At the qualifying sessions, although we brought the vehicle to the course with settings based on those from last year, the performance at the beginning was not great, and was not suitable for the conditions of this weekend. Mr. Yamamoto also worked hard to communicate the conditions of the vehicle to us in detail so that we could calibrate it before the qualifying session. Based on this information, the engineers calibrated the settings and we recovered to a position 0.197 seconds behind the top in Q2.

Although we further improved the settings for Q3 as we aimed for the top, the driver made a small mistake during the 2nd lap attack and took the first corner too sharply. We were not able to make an attack on that lap, and on the next lap the tires were no longer in their best condition, so we were unable to shorten our time and ended up in 8th place.

Between the qualifying sessions and final race, the team worked to review and adjust the settings to make a stronger vehicle. Mr. Yamamoto also got off to a good start. However he lost his opening after that and was trapped between other cars on both sides. As a result, they made contact and he fell back to 10th place.

Regarding the pace after that point, it appears that the settings were still insufficient, and he had to compete without a good balance between the front and back. Also, it is very difficult to overtake the car ahead on this circuit, and the pit was the only way of reversing positions, presenting a difficult fight for Mr. Yamamoto. As he said, we have to improve the shift feel if we are to get faster speeds.

Although we took the pole position at last year's Autopolis, various conditions have changed, including different course conditions and different engine torque characteristics. If we leave things the way they were last year, I do not think that we will be able to get the pole position. We will look closely at last year's and this year's conditions, and study them carefully as we prepare the vehicle.

At the next Autopolis race, the qualification place will also be important. We will refer to last year's experience and work to take pole position going into the final race. All members of the team will work together to fix this, and everyone should be looking forward to Autopolis. Thank you for all your support.

♦ Photo Gallery (Round4)