Shun Koide — “Fight against oneself over the series title”

Shun Koide became the series champion of the 2022 FIA-F4 championship, and stepped up to the Super-Formula Lights (SFL) series the next year. He couldn’t win in 2023, but was given a second chance this season...

“Something went wrong in my first year and there was a certain vexation in me when the series was over,” said Koike. “If compared SFL with FIA-F4, there’re much more set-up targets and the speed range is completely different. I was full of questions marks, in other words. But I’ve studied various lessons since I came here, been able to widen my performance range and see now what’s lacking in me. I think I’ve grown up, to say simply. Nevertheless, I just knew it would be my last chance in 2024 because this was my second year. I had to win the title, no matter what. That’s how I was resolved at the start of this season.”

"I’m not a genius"

One big problem for Koide was that SFL had introduced an all-new engine to the series for this season and therefore the characteristics of the car had changed drastically since the previous year. This forced Koike to have to verse himself in the new engine and also outrun all his rivals.

“The 2024 model was not anymore 'quick & light' like the previous car that was very nimble in cornering. It generates solid downforce instead, so it won’t make a big difference as long as you use the downforce well. Basically, everybody runs with the same outfit and I’m no exception. There’re some unknown factors, and yet we, as a team, could start the season without much worry thanks to the finely elaborated car setting built on the data carefully collected and verified.”

As described by himself, Koide in 2024-spec achieved four wins by the end of the 12th round and became the points leader.

How did he evaluate his driving style when he obviously made a stronger start than the year before?

“You might as well call him genius if a driver gets in a new car and is instantly running quickly without giving much thought. In that sense, I’m not at all a genius. I always look into the way I should make the car to my liking before going out for my stint. I also study carefully about the driving tactics and try to be prepared as best as possible for each race. I’m a driver of such kind, and it’s always been that way since my school days (currently Honda Racing School Suzuka). I think it’s one of my merits as well as my distinctive quality. Not a genius but a demon for knowledge and experience gained through my actual driving. I’m now practicing the method quite consciously. If I continue it tenaciously, I might be able to drive like a genius someday, albeit virtually. I’m on the way to accumulate various experiences right now.”

Training with the simulator

This year, Koide participates alongside the SFL series in Super Taikyu and in SUPER GT GT300 class, driving CIVIC TYPE R and NSX GT3 at each, and is enhancing the said “accumulation” by honing the driving skill with various cars under varying conditions.

“I feel I’ve got the knack of perceiving the potential of the car as soon as I hit the road, understanding the surface condition, driving the car at its limit through quickly adjusting with circumstances. I think it’s the result of my experience level going up in chunks while I was dealing with many different cars and different conditions.”

An increasing number of drivers these days turn to driving simulators, and habitually train themselves with it in private. Koike is one of those athletes having faith in simulation training., and being such a fan as to put “Simulator” in the ‘Hobby’ space of his CV.

“I never miss training on the simulator, though I’m not doing it so often like before. Simulator practice helps me to push right from the first lap and also fill my shortcomings. I think it serves as a setting lesson too. When I look for a better way of setting to clear a particular corner, I usually try on the simulator first for the possible combinations. 'If I do this here, then I have to do that there' - something like that. By doing it, I can tell my opinion about the setting to the team with some confidence in me. Simulation and the real world are not entirely the same, of course, but there’s something I can avail and learn from it. As a matter of fact, the simulator is an essential tool for my racing career, and I don’t think I could have done what I did without it.”

For sure, the simulator training has been one of the fundamental columns that bolster the 'layers' of Koike’s capacity as a driver.

Facing the final event with eyes focused on the next step

Prior to the final event of the season, Koide was in the position to secure the series title depending upon the result of the Suzuka round, held in the second week of November. To everyone’s surprise, though, Koide couldn’t win at Suzuka, and the title remained undecided until the final event at Mobility Resort Motegi scheduled on November 30 - December 1.

“Suzuka can be said to be the worst weekend for me this year. It was a big frustration to me because I had the chance to decide the title there. I’ve so far won at least once in an event at Autopolis, SUGO, Fuji and Okayama, which made me wonder why couldn’t do the same at Suzuka, and I got almost depressed about it. But I tried not to think too much, telling myself: ‘You’ve got to have one of these days, some time.’ The situation got a little bit harder for me to win the title, but I still held the point-leading position. I’d be growing bigger and better if I brace myself all over again and conquer this difficult situation, rather than clinching the title before the final event. I would never succeed in the upper category unless I got through this anyway. I thought it’s a challenge to myself, and I took it positively, which was how I faced the final event.”

After the penultimate event at Suzuka, Koide remained at the top of the points table with a nine-point gap to Seita Nonaka in 2nd, and 23 points ahead of Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura in joint 3rd. Koide’s so-longed-for champion title was set to go down to the wire at the finale at Mobility Resort Motegi.

Ending on a high

At the final event held on November 20 - December 1, Koide seized victories at two out of three races with a convincing pole-to-win, and was duly crowned with the well-earned and hard-fought 2024 SFL series title.