211 October 2014
Rd. 14 Fuji Speedway
● Katsuta wins Rd 14 as Matsushita clinches
2014 F3 championship title
● F3-N: Koizumi reaps the laurel with lights-to-flag
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The last two races of 2014 Japanese Formula 3 Championship were held at Fuji Speedway. Daiki Sasaki of B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP set 1m34.835 on Saturday October 11 to secure pole position for Rd.14 on the same day nearly a tenth clear of Takamoto Katsuta of PETRRONAS TEAM TOM'S. "I think I've done a very good job so far this weekend. Fuji is my favorite track, so I hope to wrap up this season with straight wins," Sasaki expressed enthusiasm.
When it comes to the title favorites, Kenta Yamashita of PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S qualified 3rd ahead of Mitsunori Takaboshi (B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP). The title lead Nobuharu Matsushita (HFDP RACING) settled for 5th place probably because he was going through growing pains. Meanwhile, the F3-N title lead Hiroshi Koizumi (HANASHIMA RACING) took pole position less than a tenth second clear of Rintaro Kubo (TOCHIGI Le Beausset motorsports), who also set less than a tenth second faster than Shohei Yuzawa (KCMG). "I'm not really conscious of the title, so I am not feeling pressure", said Koizumi.
● Two TOM'S take a formation of 1-2 at the start of the race
The race was fought for 21 laps. A shorter starting grid presentation than usual meant once going out from pit competitors had no time to do final checkups at track before lining up at the starting grid, but it was an identical condition for all the teams.
Yamashita got the strongest start of the field, and Katsuta outbraked through the first corner to place 2nd. Sasaki made a good start but taking the inside line after running 3-wide backfired on the pole-sitter and dropped him to 3rd. In F3-N class Koizumi stalled the engine and fell all the way to the tail of the field, allowing Kubo to take the lead effortlessly.
The opening lap also saw Nanin Indra-Payoong (CERUMO INGING Jr.) spinning at the hairpin and Dan Wells, a wild card for TODA RACING, running wide at the Dunlop, immediately followed by Ai Miura's retirement after a contact with Yuzawa, who suffered no damage and resumed chasing the class leader.
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● The early laps see dogfights in F3-N class
Katsuta built up 9 tenths of a second lead over Yamashita at the end of the opening lap, with Sasaki 5 tenths of a second behind ahead of Takaboshi and Matsushita. Katsuta was gradually pulling away with impressive pace in the middle of the race, while in F3-N class there were a number of changes in the order even in the early laps with Yuzawa jumping on clearly slowing down Kubo in to the first corner on lap 4. Having recovered to 3rd place on the same lap Koizumi was close enough to engage in a tussle with Kubo a lap later before slipstreaming the Le Beausset on the straight on lap 6 in to 2nd spot. Then he pushed further with momentum as he found a fall-off in Yuzawa's pace, and regained the top spot on the straight on lap 9. All he needed to do was now take the chequered flag to get his long-cherished F3-N title.
● Katsuta narrowly holds on to the lead
over Sasaki as the championship title goes to Matsushita
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Having built up a 2.8 second gap up to lap 12, Katsuta now found himself being closed in by Sasaki rather than his team-mate. Sasaki was following Yamashita very closely waiting for his chance, and finally challenged the TOM'S in to the first corner on lap 12, which Yamashita survived, but too firmly guarding on the run down the Coca-Cola backfired on Yamashita and allowed the pole-sitter to overtake brilliantly in to the 100R turn. True to the reputation that he is strong in closing stages Sasaki was edging ahead with an even more impressive pace before closing right on to the tail of Katsuta on the final lap. Despite being continually on the offensive through almost all the turns, however, he was still unable to reclaim the lead, and in a last-ditch attempt he slipstreamed on the straight, but crossed the line just 7 milliseconds behind. He would have won if the line had been a few meters ahead. Katsuta scored his second win.
Yamashita took 3rd and Takaboshi 4th. Having finished in 5th place Matsushita clinched a coveted Formula 3 championship title prior to the final race. With Katsuta and Yamashita both taking podium finishes PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S won the team title.
● Koizumi leads home Yuzawa and Kubo to lift F3-N title
Koizumi picked up his 7th win to achieve his first F3-N class title in his full participation in the series for 3 years as well as most race victories. Yuzawa placed 2nd and Kubo 3rd with Dragon (B-MAX Racing Team) missing out on taking 3 consecutive podium finishes, having settled for 4th.
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| [Round14 Race Result] |
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No. |
Driver |
Team/Car |
Type |
Laps |
Total Time |
GAP |
Lap |
Time |
Laps |
| 1 |
1 |
|
勝田 貴元
Takamoto Katsuta |
PETRONAS TOM'S F312 |
Dallara F312 |
21 |
33:47.705 |
- |
- |
3 |
1:35.844 |
171.4 |
| 2 |
23 |
|
佐々木 大樹
Daiki Sasaki |
B-MAX NDDP F312 |
Dallara F312 |
21 |
33:47.712 |
0.007 |
0.007 |
4 |
1:35.842 |
171.4 |
| 3 |
36 |
|
山下 健太
Kenta Yamashita |
PETRONAS TOM'S F314 |
Dallara F314 |
21 |
33:52.691 |
4.986 |
4.979 |
4 |
1:35.973 |
171.2 |
| 4 |
22 |
|
高星 明誠
Mitsunori Takaboshi |
B-MAX NDDP F312 |
Dallara F312 |
21 |
33:57.993 |
10.288 |
5.302 |
4 |
1:36.267 |
170.6 |
| 5 |
7 |
|
松下 信治
Nobuharu Matsushita |
HFDP RACING F312 |
Dallara F312 |
21 |
33:59.109 |
11.404 |
1.116 |
6 |
1:36.418 |
170.4 |
| 6 |
2 |
|
清原 章太
Shota Kiyohara |
TODA FIGHTEX |
Dallara F312 |
21 |
34:00.688 |
12.983 |
1.579 |
8 |
1:36.365 |
170.5 |
| 7 |
8 |
|
高橋 翼
Tubasa Takahashi |
HFDP RACING F312 |
Dallara F312 |
21 |
34:04.673 |
16.968 |
3.985 |
9 |
1:36.744 |
169.8 |
| 8 |
38 |
|
ナニン・インドラ・パユーング
Nanin Indra-Payoong |
CERUMO・INGING Jr.F312 |
Dallara F312 |
21 |
34:24.096 |
36.391 |
19.423 |
5 |
1:36.489 |
170.2 |
| 9 |
6 |
N |
小泉 洋史
Hiroshi Koizumi |
Net Move Hanashima Racing |
Dallara F306 N |
21 |
34:43.494 |
55.789 |
19.398 |
8 |
1:38.080 |
167.5 |
| 10 |
21 |
|
ダン・ウェルズ
Dan Wells |
TDC F314 with DWI |
Dallara F314 |
21 |
34:49.347 |
+1:01.642 |
5.853 |
9 |
1:36.530 |
170.2 |
| 11 |
19 |
N |
湯澤 翔平
Shohei Yuzawa |
KCMG F308 |
Dallara F308 N |
21 |
34:51.864 |
+1:04.159 |
2.517 |
8 |
1:38.818 |
166.2 |
| 12 |
62 |
N |
久保 凛太郎
Rintaro Kubo |
CG ROBOTル・ボーセF308 |
Dallara F308 N |
21 |
34:55.828 |
+1:08.123 |
3.964 |
10 |
1:38.994 |
165.9 |
| 13 |
28 |
N |
山口 大陸
Tairoku Yamaguchi |
TAIROKU EXCEED |
Dallara F306 N |
21 |
35:00.384 |
+1:12.679 |
4.556 |
15 |
1:38.332 |
167.1 |
| 14 |
13 |
|
吉田 基良
Motoyoshi Yoshida |
B-MAX RACING F312 |
Dallara F312 |
21 |
35:04.137 |
+1:16.432 |
3.753 |
15 |
1:38.879 |
166.1 |
| 15 |
30 |
N |
DRAGON |
B-MAX with RSS306 |
Dallara F306 N |
21 |
35:08.596 |
+1:20.891 |
4.459 |
11 |
1:39.270 |
165.5 |
| 16 |
77 |
N |
三浦 勝
Masaru Miura |
アルボルアルデアCMS306 |
Dallara F306 N |
20 |
33:54.062 |
1 Lap |
1 Lap |
8 |
1:40.582 |
163.3 |
| ー以上完走ー |
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3 |
N |
三浦 愛
Ai Miura |
EXEDY RACING F307 |
Dallara F307 N |
0 |
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0 |
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Pole Position Daiki SASAKI 1:34.835 173.2 Kph
Fastest Lap Lap 4 Daiki SASAKI 1:35.842 171.4 Kph |
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