#7 Otaki took victory and performed a promise between locals!
#7 Otaki
FIA-F4 JAPANESE CHAMPIONSHIP Round 8 was held at Sportsland SUGO on July 23, 2017(Sun). Local driver # 7 Otaki won the first victory in a year since winning at Suzuka last August.
Yesterday (Round 7) race was really confusing, 31 cars showed up but only 23 cars finished the race. Round 8 was a race in wet conditions as the weather forecast predicted.
It was a reverse in road conditions from yesterday’s race. Many drivers had no driving experience at SUGO in the rain or they have a few driving data, so it is not easy to the winning forecast on. But it was predictable that those who could capture the “SUGO in the Rain” would be able to win.
In this regard, it was more of an advantage for the local driver #7 Otaki who took the 2nd place finish in yesterday’s race as well. During the race yesteday, Sasahara who won the championship succeeded in building a 35 points huge leads in the series because his rivals acted to destroy themselves. Although #１Miyata, #5 Oyu and #8 Tsunoda, who is ranked in the top of point ranking, they retired from the race yesterday, and in today’s race their desire to block Sasahara’s win should be even stronger.
Safety car running
The race was fought over 15 laps and started with the Safety Car running. Everyone expected they would likely see a hot fight between young drivers today, but here again there was “evil spirit” at SUGO.
On the third lap, when the Safety Car was in the back, the top battle intensified immediately. #8 Tsunoda started from pole position, he slipped at the second corner and dropped a position. On the other hand, when it seemed that #8 Tsunoda and # 6 Sasahara battled for the 2nd position, # 60 was stopped in the last corner, and # 17 stopped the machine on the course of the third corner, then the Safety Car started driving again.
It was expected that the race would be deployed this time, but with only 9 laps remaining, the Safety Car was released and the “evil spirit” reappeared. Under the home straight Dunlop, #5 Oyu followed the Safety Car and pitted-in suddenly. #8 Tsunoda was puzzled by that and hit #6 Sasahara, causing both drivers to course out.
All three drivers (#5, #6 and #8) retired form this race. The anger from #6 Sasahara could not be calmed down, he pressed hard to #5 Oyu and the were scenes controlled by the Marshalls.
Before the checker
After all, this race was to be fought for the remaining 4 laps. Each driver showed an aggressive run while struggling on the rainy road. As a result, local driver #7 Otaki controlled this race, and he took the first victory in a year since winning in Suzuka last August.
#7 Otaki said he wanted to give back to the local people because a lot of cheers came on this race from the Tohoku area, and he kept his promise between them. 2nd position was #3 Ishizaka and 3rd position was #1 Miyata.
From the left #3 Ishizaka, #7 Otaki and #1 Miyata
The next race, Round 9 and Round 10 will be held at Fuji Speedway on August 5th and 6th. The racing will become more intense and with battles that cannot be forgotten!