23 August 2014
Rd. 10 Motegi
● Katsuta clinches first 2014 win
● F3-N: Koizumi dominates the race from start to finish
The Japanese Formula 3 Championship returned to Twin Ring Motegi for its 5th event of the 2014 season. Daiki Sasaki of B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP topped the two practice sessions of 90 minutes each on Friday with 1m47.086, which was initially thought to be a target time for the qualifying, but with significant drop in both air and track temperatures on Saturday once the qualifying session started just after the practice session of Super Formula series much better times were set.
◎ Kiyohara secures his first F3 pole
Setting 1m45.537 on his last attack Shota Kiyohara of TODA RACING secured his first F3 pole narrowly ahead of Takamoto Katsuta (PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S), Nobuharu Matsushita (HFDP RACING), Mitsunori Takaboshi (B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP) and Kenta Yamashita
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(PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S). When it comes to entry Toda Racing ran an extra car over the Motegi race weekend – for Sam MacLeod competing in F3 championships in UK and Germany this season. Sharing data and working together on setups with MacLeod really helped Kiyohara get the good result. "But I can't celebrate until I win the race," Kiyohara braced himself.
Hiroshi Koizumi of HANASHIMA RACING secured 4th pole of the season in F3-N class with a time of 1m49.179 ahead of Shohei Yuzawa (KCMG). Rintaro Kubo (TOCHIGI Le Beausset Motorsports) qualified 3rd place but was handed a penalty of 3 grids drop for a collision in the previous race to start in 6th, bringing up the rear of the drivers by one place each including Ai Miura (EXCEDY RACING TEAM) up to 3rd for the F3-N grid.
◎ Katsuta takes the lead with good Start
◎ Misfortune for pole-sitter Kiyohara
Despite high probability of rain the dry conditions were kept throughout the 14-lap race. Kiyohara made a good start, but another front-row starter Katsuta made a better start to line up with him at the end of the straight and took the lead at the exit of the first corner. Matsushita followed the two leaders before being trapped in the gravel at Turn 4, allowing Takaboshi and Yamashita to breeze past.
Katsuta was extending nearly 1 second lead that he earned just on the opening lap, while maneuvering the tyres, as Kiyohara became convinced of abnormalities in the car and said over the radio "Something is wrong". The pole-sitter ran wide through the first corner on lap 4 and then went off the track at the 130R turn. This damaged his suspension and eventually forced him to retire. Now with more than three seconds gap over Takaboshi, Katsuta pulled away into a solid lead, setting fastest laps again and again.
◎ F3-N: Koizumi fends off charging Kubo and Miura
In F3-N class Koizumi made a reasonably good start to turn the first corner in front, while Yuzawa was struggling with his slow pace perhaps as a result of a contact made when he was overtaken by Ai Miura at Turn 5. Yuzawa lost another place to Kubo at S-turn on lap 2, and spun through a contact with Tairoku Yamaguchi at the first corner on lap 7 before being stuck in the gravel eventually into retirement. Keeping his eye through his rear view mirrors on an intensified battle going on over 2nd spot between Ai Miura and Kubo, Koizumi tried to pick up his pace to pull away, but only to find them closing in on him, with the trio forming a straight line in the middle of the race.
Koizumi, however, used all his strength to hold on to the lead and scored his fifth win as Ai Miura and Kubo suffered from ailing tyres after the furious catch-ups in early laps. Despite making a series of small mistakes in the closing laps Ai Miura placed 2nd. Having set the fastest lap Kubo finished 3rd ahead of Yamaguchi, with Masaru Miura in 5th who made his debut in F3 as a wild card ahead of DRAGON.
◎ Katsuta wins first 2014 victory unopposed
Meanwhile, Katsuta dominated the 14-lap race and won his first 2014 victory unopposed. "Both the start and the race development were perfect," recalled Katsuta. Having started in 5th Yamashita scored 9th podium finish in 3rd behind Takaboshi, and maintained his lead in the standings.
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[Round10 Race Result]
|
| |
No. |
|
Driver |
Team/Car |
Type |
Lap |
Total Time |
Delay |
Gap |
Best |
Lap |
| 1 |
1 |
|
勝田 貴元
Takamoto Katsuta |
PETRONAS TOM'S F312 |
Dallara F312 |
14 |
25'07.705 |
160.50km/h |
|
1'47.020 |
7/14 |
| 2 |
22 |
|
高星 明誠
Mitsunori Takaboshi |
B-MAX NDDP F312 |
Dallara F312 |
14 |
25'15.231 |
7.526 |
7.526 |
1'47.369 |
9/14 |
| 3 |
36 |
|
山下 健太
Kenta Yamashita |
PETRONAS TOM'S F314 |
Dallara F314 |
14 |
25'15.552 |
7.847 |
0.321 |
1'47.467 |
4/14 |
| 4 |
7 |
|
松下 信治
Nobuharu Matsushita |
HFDP RACING F312 |
Dallara F312 |
14 |
25'17.492 |
9.787 |
1.940 |
1'47.533 |
7/14 |
| 5 |
8 |
|
高橋 翼
Tsubasa Takahashi |
HFDP RACING F312 |
Dallara F312 |
14 |
25'26.859 |
19.154 |
9.367 |
1'47.863 |
8/14 |
| 6 |
23 |
|
佐々木 大樹
Daiki Sasaki |
B-MAX NDDP F312 |
Dallara F312 |
14 |
25'27.090 |
19.385 |
0.231 |
1'47.463 |
5/14 |
| 7 |
38 |
|
ﾅﾆﾝ･ｲﾝﾄﾞﾗ･ﾊﾟﾕｰﾝｸ
Nanin Indra-Payoong |
CERUMO・INGING Jr.F312 |
Dallara F312 |
14 |
25'30.137 |
22.432 |
3.047 |
1'47.885 |
6/14 |
| 8 |
6 |
N |
小泉 洋史
Hiroshi Koizumi |
Net Move Hanashima Racing |
Dallara F306 N |
14 |
26'04.139 |
56.434 |
34.002 |
1'50.772 |
3/14 |
| 9 |
3 |
N |
三浦 愛
Ai Miura |
EXEDY RACING F307 |
Dallara F307 N |
14 |
26'05.368 |
57.663 |
1.229 |
1'50.720 |
7/14 |
| 10 |
62 |
N |
久保 凛太郎
Rintaro Kubo |
CG ROBOTル・ボーセF308 |
Dallara F308 N |
14 |
26'06.107 |
58.402 |
0.739 |
1'50.675 |
6/14 |
| 11 |
28 |
N |
山口 大陸
Tairoku Yamaguchi |
TAIROKU EXCEED |
Dallara F306 N |
14 |
26'12.396 |
1'04.691 |
6.289 |
1'50.721 |
6/14 |
| 12 |
77 |
N |
三浦 勝
Masaru Miura |
アルボルアルデアCMS306 |
Dallara F306 N |
14 |
26'14.658 |
1'06.953 |
2.262 |
1'51.250 |
10/14 |
| 13 |
30 |
N |
DRAGON |
B-MAX with RSS306 |
Dallara F306 N |
14 |
26'17.915 |
1'10.210 |
3.257 |
1'51.038 |
10/14 |
| 14 |
13 |
|
吉田 基良
Motoyoshi Yoshida |
B-MAX RACING F312 |
Dallara F312 |
12 |
25'11.278 |
2Laps |
2Laps |
1'50.946 |
8/12 |
| 以上 規定周回数完走: |
|
19 |
N |
湯澤 翔平
Shohei Yuzawa |
KCMG F308 |
Dallara F308 N |
6 |
11'18.046 |
8Laps |
6Laps |
1'50.901 |
6/6 |
|
2 |
|
清原 章太
Shota Kiyohara |
TODA FIGHTEX |
Dallara F312 |
3 |
5'29.275 |
11Laps |
3Laps |
1'47.695 |
2/3 |
|
※21 |
|
サム・マックラウド
Sam Macleod |
TDC with SJM F314 |
Dallara F314 |
1 |
1'56.945 |
13Laps |
2Laps |
|
0/1 |
開始時刻： 15:38'24 終了時刻： 16:03'31
BEST TIME № 1 T.Katsuta/勝田 貴元 PETRONAS TOM'S F312 1'47.020 7/14 161.51km/h 規定周回数 12
※No.21は公式通知No.8に基づき、選手権得点の対象外とする。 |
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