【2 consecutive wins, Red Bull · #55 Pierre became a Hero in Kyushu ! 】
#15 Pierre Gasly
The final for the 5th round of the Super Formula series in 2017 was held on 10th (Sunday) at AUTOPOLIS in Hita City Oita prefecture. Last year it was not possible to hold it in AUTOPOLIS due to the influence of the Kyushu Kumamoto earthquake. It will be the first time in two years this time.
#3 Nick Cassidy was top in free practice this morning. In the final race, it is mandatory to change tires, one set of soft tires and set of medium tires at the race. Race strategies such as tire management, number of refueling, and timing are also considered.
At the start
The first of 54 laps started at 13:08. In the top group, #55 Pierre Gasly, from 5th on the grid, with the soft tires had a good start and got a rank up to the 2nd place. In the back, there was confusion, and several cars had been late from the race.
#36 Lotterer, who was drawing attention, was influenced by the confusion at the start. He pitted in on only one lap and removed the steering wheel. Several cars were pitting in around the 5th lap and were changing tires. It seems that each team, the strategy seems to be very different, whether it is 1 pit or 2 pits.
#40 Nojiri who updated the course record yesterday on lap 11. #15 Gasly who followed it along with #19 Sekiguchi but both were using soft tires. How long will the tires remain ideal? How long can #40 Nojiri keep pull the lead?
On the 16th lap, #10 Tsukagoshi who was the last start from the influence of yesterday’s crash, repeatedly overtook, the same way as he did at Motegi and overtook 15 cars. We are curious about #10 Tsukagoshi’s strategy.
On lap 20, #3 Nick Cassidy crashed in sector 3 and retired from race. #15 Gasly who was quickly at the top pitted in on lap 23. Then, went backed to race quickly with the pit work of wonderful mechanics. With the skill of the team and his tire management, will he win two consecutive victories?
#7 Felix Rosenqvist
Lap 33, with momentum approaching the top was #19 Sekiguchi. The gap between him and with #40 Nojiri at the top was only 2 seconds. Both #40 Nojiri and #1 Kunimoto were still in the third place, as #37 Kazuki Nakajima is not pitting in yet.
#37 Kazuki Nakajima, who quickly pitted in among the three cars, changed to soft tires. He dropped the rank in the pit work, but showed the ability of the soft tire, and steadily returned the ranking.
On lap 39, the top #40 Nojiri pits in. But it took time to refuel and it was to be behind #15 Gasly. After that, #1 Kunimoto pitted in. All the overtake buttons were still left. But he never came in front of #15 Gasly. Immediately after that, #40 Nojiri was hitting #18 Kamui Kobayashi in the first corner. He sustained damage to the front, thus the road to the champions has ceased.
#8 Kazuya Oshima
The top battle had also intensified. #15 Gasly at the top, #7 Rosenqvist and #8 Oshima were same team, LEMANS, chased behind him. Team LEMANS’s strategy, which had been starting from the back, may be said to have succeeded. Will #7 Rosenqvist, who was on the podium on the 3rd and 4th race, climb on the podium for three consecutive times?
With two laps left, #15 Gasly used the overtake button and took a position to escape from #7 Rosenqvist. In the final lap, #7 Rosenqvist updated his own best in sector 1, but #15 Pierre Gasly won the first checkered flag and won his second consecutive race.
#7 Rosenqvist was 2nd position and got to the podium for the third consecutive time. #8 Oshima was in 3rd place, his first the podium finish since 2012. #15 Gasly ranked up to the second place in the annual point rankings.
#15 Pierre Gasly
Result
1st #15 Pierre Gasly TEAM MUGEN 1:24’28.619
2nd #7 Felix Rosenqvist SUNOCO TEAM LEMANS 1:24’30.177
3rd #8 Kazuya Oshima SUNOCO TEAM LEMANS 1:24’36.257
4th #2 Hiroaki Ishiura P.MU/CERUMO・INGING 1:24’37.174
5th #1 Yuji Kunimoto P.MU/CERUMO・INGING 1:24’37.628
Weather: sunny, Road condition: dry