Ohta claims victory from P13 as six Honda drivers score points
Fuji SpeedwayOn Saturday 18 July, Round 6 of the Japanese SUPER FORMULA Championship (SF) was held at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Round 6 Race
Weak sunshine broke through around midday and the track had fully dried, although clouds gathered ahead of the race, which started at 4:15pm.
Tadasuke Makino (DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING) made a strong start, climbing to sixth off the line before moving into fifth at Turn 1 on Lap 2, fourth on Lap 3 and third on Lap 7.
His team-mate Kakunoshin Ohta also made rapid progress from 13th, using the Overtake System (OTS) aggressively to gain positions. He reached eighth on Lap 5, sixth on Lap 9 and closed in on Makino in third by Lap 14.
The race was declared wet on Lap 9, but the rain was not heavy enough for wet tyres. When the pit window opened on Lap 11, the leaders continued to wait for the right moment to stop.
Ohta pitted from fourth at the end of Lap 20 and fitted another set of dry tyres. On Lap 21, Makino used OTS to overtake Toshiki Oyu (Toyota) for second. When Oyu pitted on Lap 23, Ohta passed him immediately after he rejoined. Race leader Zak O’Sullivan (Toyota) then stopped on Lap 24, promoting Makino to the lead.
O’Sullivan rejoined ahead of Ohta, but Ohta quickly closed the gap and passed him at Turn 1 on Lap 25, taking the lead among the drivers who had already stopped.
Makino pitted from the lead on Lap 29 and rejoined in third behind Ohta and O’Sullivan. Ohta had used all of his OTS allocation, while O’Sullivan still had some remaining and closed in at key moments. Ohta responded each time and did not allow his rival an opportunity to pass. The gap remained stable in the closing stages, and Ohta completed the 41 laps to take victory.
Further back, Syun Koide (ThreeBond Racing) started from 17th on the grid and gained three positions on the opening lap before continuing his progress. He was 12th by Lap 10 and moved into ninth on Lap 37. Koide continued to overtake and set personal-best times in Sectors 1 and 2 on the final lap on his way to a fifth place finish.
Ayumu Iwasa (TEAM MUGEN AUTOBACS), who started from 22nd, finished tenth after extending his first stint until the end of Lap 36. Makino finished third, while Igor Omura Fraga (sixth, PONOS NAKAJIMA RACING) and Yuto Nomura (ninth, San-Ei Gen with B-Max) also scored championship points.
Round 3 will be held on Sunday morning, followed by Round 7 in the afternoon.
The rain early in the race only made the track slightly damp, but lap times dropped by around two to three seconds. Even so, the team told me over the radio, ‘You’re the fastest out there.'
During Free Practice on Friday, the track was quite wet, but I insisted that they let me go out on slick tyres. That may have helped because I had already gained some understanding of how the rain felt on my visor and how the grip level would drop.
I think I told the team in Sector 3 that I wanted to pit. They responded immediately and everything was perfect. It was an excellent time to stop, so I am grateful to the team. I’m going to win again tomorrow.
The rain early in the race only made the track slightly damp, but lap times dropped by around two to three seconds. Even so, the team told me over the radio, ‘You’re the fastest out there.'
During Free Practice on Friday, the track was quite wet, but I insisted that they let me go out on slick tyres. That may have helped because I had already gained some understanding of how the rain felt on my visor and how the grip level would drop.
I think I told the team in Sector 3 that I wanted to pit. They responded immediately and everything was perfect. It was an excellent time to stop, so I am grateful to the team. I’m going to win again tomorrow.
