#6 Sasahara emerges victorious from an intense battle!
#6 Sasahara
FIA-F4 JAPANESE CHAMPIONSHIP Round 7 was held at Sportsland SUGO on July 22, 2017(sat). #6 Sasahara who is at the top of the point ranking in 2017 won the race. This is his third victory of the season.
The SUGO round will be held after the interval of about two months from the previous 5th and 6th round at Autopolis (Oita-pref.). At Round 7, FIA-F4 2017 season reached the midway point.
One of the most notable points of this round was the change in vehicle weight regulation. The minimum weight of the vehicle was increased from 595kg to 600kg. How will the 5kg increase effect to the race?
Sportsland SUGO has a narrow course width and few overtaking points.
Peoples say “there lives an evil spirit “in SUGO, which drivers will win in this race? #5 Oyu won the previous race at AutoPolice, now ranked 3rd. He also won the race last year. In the point ranking of 2017, he is one of the notable drivers.
In the meantime, # 6 Sasahara (at the top of the series ranking) and # 8 Tsunoda(3rd place) have no practical warfare at SUGO in the FIA-F4 Championship, but they did have a good race in previous race at Autopolis with no achievements. This time we are hopeful of them winning the prize.
Race
＜Qualifying（Weather:Fine/Course:Dry)＞
The qualifying for the 7th and 8th races began at 8:10 am, and 31 machines went out. For the qualifying, which took place for 30 minutes, it was a very close battle with the time difference between the 1st position to 17th’s within only 1 second.
#8 Kakuda（1’23.868） won the pole who was good condition in OTG training the day before. #5 Oyu (1 ‘23.963) who gave +0.095 time from 1st won 2nd place. Subsequently, #6 Sasahara (1’24.111) took 3rd. 4th: #3 Ishizaka (1’24.124),5th:#25 Takahashi(1 ‘24.142).
Safety car running
＜Race（Weather:Cloud/Course:Dry)＞
This race was the most devastating race in the 2017 series. Formation lap started at 13:05 pm, with one car stopping before the last corner. The final race started with only 30 cars.
When the signal turned on and started the race, # 8 Tsunoda went to the turn 1, while checking the # 5 Oyu of the 2nd start. The two cars were tangled during the run side by side and went off course at turn 2. #8 Tsunoda returned to the course at 5th place, but #5 Oyu jumped out to the inside of chicanes and retired.
#3 Sasahara started at 3rd catching them off guard, and got the top at turn 3. After that, CS was thrown in immediately but crash and retirement continued one after another, as well as confusion.
From the left, #7 Otaki, #6 Sasahara and #3 Ishizaka
The race resumed with 5 laps to go. #6 Sasahara, who was putting on the top from the last corner, pulled away from the succeeding drivers. Behind him, the battle for 2nd place intensified. #7 Otaki, a local driver who was in the 3rd place, receiving cheers from the locals, showed a great run. He caught #3 Ishizawa and rose to 2nd place. It became a checkered flag as it was.
As a result, #6 Sasahara got 1st and won the third win of the series. 2nd: #7 Otaki, 3rd: #3 Ishizaka, 4th: #50, Sawada, 5th: #8 Tsunoda.
The 8th round will be held from 11:45 on Saturday, July 23th (sun).