#15 Sato started out very smoothly, but on the contrary #16 Yamamoto had a problem that required his machine to remain in the pit for ongoing repairs.Īt 13:53, after finishing check run at 13:58, all the machines were at the grid, with the exception of #16 Yamamoto who was still at his pit for frantic repair work on his machine. The warm-up run started at 13:45 for 8 minutes with the typical echo of formula cars around the circuit under a clear blue sky. Best lap: 1min 45.113secs.)įor the 28-lap feature race the participants are required to pit to exchange tires and, since fueling is also permitted, each team can consider various strategies for the race. #16 Naoki Yamamoto NO RECORD due to shortage of laps (4 laps: 7mins 122.409secs. Despite almost coming to a stop at the Degner Curve #16 Yamamoto was able to finish the race albeit in 15th place with team-mate Sato following behind in 17th.Īlthough the results were not satisfactory, both of the drivers could complete the race having gathered precious driving data. The race settled down and nothing remarkable happened for a while, but cruelly on the final lap of the race #16 Yamamoto started to slow down with apparent drive-train problems. Though #15 Sato started out late, he created some audience excitement when he passed the #18 at the chicane on the 9th lap. #16 Yamamoto recorded the fastest lap at 1min44.107secs at 5th lap, but was not able to improve after that. While #16 Yamamoto battled with #32 Kogure in the middle of the race, #15 Sato tried to run at the same pace as the top driver to catch up the time loss. Therefore the 20 lap sprint race, with no mandatory tyre change or fuelling was scheduled to be Race 1 of the day.Īir temperature of 17 ☌ and track surface at 23 ☌ gave good conditions for the 8 minute warm-up run with all cars lined up at dummy grid at 9:48.Īfter singing of the national anthem and opening declaration the formation lap was started, however, under severe pressure both drivers wanted to win the race at any cost, and #15 Sato’s machine engine stalled, leaving him no option other than to start from the back of the grid in 18th place.Īt the race start #16 Yamamoto remained in 7th place, but again #15 Sato suffered a stalled engine and he was critically left behind. Team MUGEN got ready for the race 1 without huge modification, and with a crowded race programme to get through on the day there was no time in the schedule for the normal 9:00 free practice session. In contrast to the previous day the weather, although partly cloudy, provided ideal race conditions. #16 Naoki Yamamoto 15th place (20 laps: 35mins 14.753secs. Since TEAM MUGEN has been running two cars, the team has benefited a lot from the stand point of exchange of the technical data, so hopes were high for wining the race for their fans. With Sato having twice won points at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, and Yamamoto winning the pole position at his very first race after becoming a driver at TEAM MUGEN, both were keen to demonstrate their undoubted skills as brilliant drivers on this circuit. With both drivers being graduates of the SRS-F (Suzuka Circuit Racing School Formula racing schools) based at SUZUKA CIRCUIT this is, in a manner of speaking a home course for them. The final race of the Formula NIPPON 2012 was held at Honda’s home ground course, SUZUKA CIRCUIT.įrom next season Formula NIPPON will be renamed Super Formula, therefore this race can be counted as the very last race of the Formula NIPPON era, which started 1996.Įx-Formula One, and current Indy car driver, Takuma Sato, who joined the series at the previous race as a TEAM MUGEN driver again joined Team MUGEN regular driver, Naoki Yamamoto, and both were fully-prepared for this final race. Race: sun / Partly coludy / Attendance 14,000 (Announcement from the organizer) Qualifying: sat / Cloudy / Attendance 12,000 (Announcement from the organizer) Series name: 2012 Japanese Championship Formula NIPPON Round7Įvent name: 2012 Japanese Championship Formula NIPPON Round7 SUZUKA CIRCUIT 2012.11.07 Japanese Championship Formula NIPPON Round7ĭue to unexpected trouble TEAM MUGEN ended this season with regret
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