【SUPER FORMULA Round 6 / Suzuka】

New track record set for two days in a row.
Toshiki Oyu scores maiden Super Formula win.

SUPER FORMULA Round 6

Date	2020/12/06
Venue	Suzuka Circuit
Weather	Fine
Surface	Dry
Race Lap	30Laps (1Lap = 5,807m)

• >>Report
• >>Result

The second half of the Suzuka doubleheader, the qualifying and race of the 2020 Super Formula series’ round six, took place on Sunday, December 6th. One of the Super Formula rookies, Toshiki Oyu (TCS Nakajima Racing), got a dramatic victory from the second grid.

In the past, there were quite a few occasions that the series had two races in a weekend, but they were mostly a two-heat race for a round. However, the unusual 2020 Super Formula calendar means a one-day race, having the qualifying and race on the same day for each round. And the teams had two sets of them in consecutive days, which was unprecedented, for this Suzuka round, so they were even busier this weekend than the previous race meetings this year.

The weather conditions were favorable throughout the weekend, and the sky was clear on a fine winter morning on Sunday. This meant the chances of another new track record were high, despite it being just renewed the day before.

The qualifying times in the fifth round were simply amazing. But, as a result of the teams’ fine-tuning of their car, the record set by Naoki Yamamoto (Docomo Team Dandelion Racing) only lasted for 24 hours!

The qualifying session itself had a few unexpected things. For example, Tomoki Nojiri (Team Mugen), who fought for the pole position with Yamamoto in round five, couldn’t make his way into Q2, and the two-time pole sitter this year, Ryo Hirakawa (Itochu Enex Team Impul), didn’t survive Q2.

The reigning champion, Nick Cassidy (Vanterin Team Tom’s), made his qualifying attempt in Q2 twice, using two sets of fresh tires, and set the fastest time in Q2 in his second attack. Then he smashed Yamamoto’s existing record by clocking 1’34″442 in Q3 and won the pole position. The second fastest was Oyu, and Ukyo Sasahara (Team Mugen) came in third. However, he had to give the third grid to Yamamoto because Sasahara had to serve a ten-grid penalty for replacing his engine after the crash on Saturday.

The drivers on the front row, Cassidy and Oyu, made the nearly perfect start for the race. Still, Yamamoto was passed by his teammate, Nirei Fukuzumi (Docomo Team Dandelion Racing), and fell back to fourth. As there were some position changes behind them, battles were seen everywhere in the field, even from the opening lap of the 30-lap race.

Kamui Kobayashi (Carrozzeria Team KCMG) also lost ground at the start, which was somewhat unusual for him. And he began to fight hard against Sacha Fenestraz (Kondo Racing), who started from the 11th grid. But they ended up with a collision at Chicane on Lap 2. While Kobayashi managed to come into the pit and rejoin the race, Fenestraz’s car halted after it went through Chicane, which called for the Safety Car intervention.

During this SC period, Yamamoto suddenly slowed down due to a gearbox problem, brought the car back to the garage, and retired. Thus, the fifth round’s winner the day before and the championship leader ended his race prematurely.

The race relaunched on Lap 7. The crowded field meant even harder battles here and there, utilizing the OverTake System. Starting from the 14th grid, Hirakawa came up to eighth by passing the car ahead of him, carefully watching the opponent’s usage of OTS and outfoxing him. Yuji Kunimoto (Carrozzeria Team KCMG) also made the most of the system in the fight for sixth against Kazuki Nakajima (Vanterin Team Tom’s) and made a bold overtaking move at Turn 1, which was successful.

Meanwhile, the top three continued without any position change, keeping a certain distance between them. Cassidy renewed the fastest lap on Lap 8 and tried to pull away from Oyu, but, on the next lap, white smoke began to come out from the rear end of his car on the pit straight. There was nothing he could do but to park the car just ahead of Turn 1 and to give up the race, as it was a terminal engine failure.

At almost the same time, his teammate Nakajima was also forced to slow down because of a puncture caused by running over debris at Chicane on Lap 8. He could continue after the tire change, but the two Tom’s team drivers dropped out of contention for top slots in this way.

Now Oyu was effectively leading the race, and the Safety Car came out to help to remove the Cassidy’s halted car. As the pit stop window opened on Lap 10 under the SC period, most drivers headed to their pit, except for Nobuharu Matsushita (Buzz Racing with B-Max) and Sasahara. Therefore, they led the field when the racing resumed on Lap13, and Oyu, Fukuzumi, and Yuhi Sekiguchi (Itochu Enex Team Impul), who jumped up from the ninth grid, followed.

On Lap 19, Kunimoto spun at S-Curve, and his car stopped in the gravel bed, which caused the third SC period in this race. He drove over debris on the pit straight, so his right rear tire gradually lost air pressure and came loose from the rim when going through S-Curve. During this SC period, Matsushita and Sasahara did the mandatory tire change, and Oyu returned to the top of the field.

After the Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 22, Oyu and Fukuzumi fought hard for a race win for the remaining eight laps. The former marked the fastest lap on Lap 24 to pull away, but the latter answered by renewing it on the next lap. Behind them, Sekiguchi and Sho Tsuboi (JMS P.Mu/Cerumo Inging) were also in a close battle for third.

The fight between Oyu and Fukuzumi was so tight, and there was no margin for error, but the Nakajima Racing driver kept his focus until the end and took his first Super Formula victory in his rookie season. Fukuzumi finished the race in second and got on the podium for the first time this year. Sekiguchi beat Tsuboi to take third place, and this was the season’s first podium finish for the Impul driver.