27 September 2014
Rd. 12 Sugo
● Matsushita dominates Rd12 from start to finish
● F3-N: Maiden F3 victory for Tairoku Yamaguchi
he Japanese Formula 3 Championship moved its battlefield to Sportsland SUGO in Miyagi Prefecture. On Saturday September 27, Nobuharu Matsushita of HFDP RACING took pole position for the Rd 12 with a time of 1m14.287, followed by Takamoto Katsuta of PETRONAS TEAM TOM’S setting 1m14.402. “I went all out and did a good job, making sure good distance between cars. I’ll keep calm and turn this pole into victory!” said Matsushita. 3rd qualifier was Mitsunori Takaboshi (B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP), who is closely behind Matsushita in the point standing, with Shota Kiyohara (TODA RACING) in 4th and Kenta Yamashita (PETRONAS TEAM TOM’S) in 7th.
Rintaro Kubo of TOCHIGI Le Beausset Motorsports topped in F3-N class ahead of Shohei Yuzawa (KCMG) and Tairoku Yamaguchi (TAIROKU EXCEED). The current point leader of the class Hiroshi Koizumi (HANASHIMA RACING) settled for 4th.
◎Koizumi and Ai Miura have a contact immediately after the start of the race
Under a clear sky the starting grid presentation started within 4 hours from the end of the qualifying, but 15 minutes behind schedule due to the previous program of Super Formula qualifying filled with red flags. As the lights went out Katsuta made a strong start but fell slightly short of snatching the holeshot from Matsushita, while behind them Kiyohara beat Takaboshi off the line to take 3rd place into the first corner. In F3-N class Kubo screwed up with the start to concede the lead to Yamaguchi. Shortly after that a contact made at Turn 2 between Koizumi and Ai Miura (EXEDY RACING TEAM) bogged down the two in the gravel, causing the safety car to be deployed for 3 laps.
◎ Katsuta comes out on top at restart but Matsushita snatches back the lead
In the restart of the race it was Katsuta who slipstreamed on the straight and came out on top exiting the first corner. However, Matsushita immediately snatched back the lead at Turn 2 and firmly defended a catch-up attempt of Katsuta a lap later. F3-N class was also expected to see close battles but the 2nd-placed Kubo spun himself into gravel at SP corner, eventually into retirement on lap 6. Matsushita had built up as much as 1 second lead over Katsuta on lap 7, but the lead did not become larger, or became even smaller in some instances until he clinched his 5th win. "I wanted to continue to extend the lead," said Matsushita. Kiyohara was racing alone from the middle of the race and took his first podium finish in 3rd place, with Takaboshi and Yamashita each finishing one spot higher than the qualifying results in 4th and 6th respectively.
◎ Tairoku Yamaguchi survives
Yuzawa's catch-ups to win
◎ First podium finish for DRAGON
In F3-N class close battle over the top spot between Tairoku Yamaguchi and Yuzawa continued till the very last minute. Yuzawa set better times on some laps, but fell short of putting pressure. Showing a stable performance throughout the race Yamaguchi claimed his first win. DRAGON also took his first podium finish in 3rd place. Koizumi managed to return to the track but having pitted once he could only complete 15 laps with no point.
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| [Round12 Race Result] |
| |
No. |
Driver |
Team/Car |
Type |
Laps |
BestTime |
Delay |
Ave.Km/h |
Fastest Lap |
Laps |
| 1 |
7 |
N.Matsushita/松下 信治 |
|
HFDP RACING |
Dallara F312 |
18 |
25'47.130 |
|
155.149 |
1'15.020 |
9 |
| 2 |
1 |
T.Katsuta/勝田 貴元 |
|
PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S |
Dallara F312 |
18 |
25'47.504 |
0.374 |
155.112 |
1'15.063 |
12 |
| 3 |
2 |
S.Kiyohara/清原 章太 |
|
TODA RACING |
Dallara F312 |
18 |
25'53.858 |
6.728 |
154.477 |
1'15.317 |
9 |
| 4 |
22 |
M.Takaboshi/高星 明誠 |
|
B-MAX Racing Team |
Dallara F312 |
18 |
25'56.976 |
9.846 |
154.168 |
1'15.476 |
8 |
| 5 |
23 |
D.Sasaki/佐々木 大樹 |
|
B-MAX Racing Team |
Dallara F312 |
18 |
25'57.203 |
10.073 |
154.145 |
1'15.456 |
11 |
| 6 |
36 |
K.Yamashita/山下 健太 |
|
PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S |
Dallara F314 |
18 |
25'58.391 |
11.261 |
154.028 |
1'15.733 |
9 |
| 7 |
38 |
Nanin Indra-Payoong |
|
CERUMO･INGING Jr. |
Dallara F312 |
18 |
26'01.682 |
14.552 |
153.703 |
1'15.762 |
14 |
| 8 |
8 |
T.Takahashi/高橋 翼 |
|
HFDP RACING |
Dallara F312 |
18 |
26'02.670 |
15.540 |
153.606 |
1'15.659 |
9 |
| 9 |
28 |
T.Yamaguchi/山口 大陸 |
N |
EXCEED MOTOR SPORTS |
Dallara F306 N |
18 |
26'36.174 |
49.044 |
150.382 |
1'18.225 |
14 |
| 10 |
19 |
S.Yuzawa/湯澤 翔平 |
N |
KCMG |
Dallara F308 N |
18 |
26'37.185 |
50.055 |
150.287 |
1'18.210 |
8 |
| 11 |
30 |
DRAGON |
N |
B-MAX Racing Team |
Dallara F306 N |
18 |
26'59.947 |
1'12.817 |
148.175 |
1'19.425 |
10 |
| 12 |
13 |
M.Yoshida/吉田 基良 |
|
B-MAX Racing Team |
Dallara F312 |
17 |
25'52.341 |
1 Lap |
146.038 |
1'19.085 |
12 |
| 以上完走 |
|
6 |
H.Koizumi/小泉 洋史 |
N |
HANASHIMA RACING |
Dallara F306 N |
15 |
26'27.465 |
3 Laps |
126.006 |
1'18.794 |
13 |
|
62 |
R.Kubo/久保 凛太郎 |
N |
TOCHIGI Le Beausset Motorsports |
Dallara F308 N |
5 |
9'36.077 |
13 Laps |
115.743 |
1'18.806 |
5 |
|
3 |
A.Miura/三浦 愛 |
N |
EXEDY RACING TEAM |
Dallara F307 N |
0 |
|
15 Laps |
|
|
|
開始時刻 15:07'00 終了時刻 15:33'00
出走台数：15台 完走台数：12台
ベストラップ： 7 N.Matsushita/松下 信治 1'15.020 9/18 177.757km/h
ｾｰﾌﾃｨｶｰ 15:08.53〜15:16.07 参加台数：15台 |
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