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Qualifying

Top time goes to different drivers in each of the three qualifying sessions

No.1 Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira

The Formula NIPPON qualifying is run in the same 3-stage knock-out format as F1. In the first session (Q1) the fastest time was run by the young Honda driver Koudai Tsukakoshi (No. 41, DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING) while the winner of this season's rounds one and three, Andre Lotterer (No. 36, PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S), came up with the second fastest time. In Q2 Lotterer was fastest, followed by his teammate Kazuki Nakajima in machine No. 37 and Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira (No. 1, TEAM IMPUL) with the third fastest time. In Q3 De Oliveira delivered the fastest time of the day with a 1'35.012 to take pole position. But close behind him were the two hot PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S teammates Lotterer and Kazuki Nakajima, who were sure to be a threat to the defending champion in the race.

No.36 Andre Lotterer
No.41 Koudai Tsukakoshi

No.36 Andre Lotterer / No.1 Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira / No.41 Koudai Tsukakoshi

Round4 Motegi Qualifying [YouTube]

Race

Fierce battle among the leaders follows the start!

No.36 Andre Lotterer Hot sunlight poured down on the Motegi paddock on race day until around the end of the Pit Walk event. However, by the time the Formula NIPPON machines were taking their positions on the dummy grid, the sky had a heavy cloud cover. Still, the air temperature was a hot 33ºC. and the track surface temperature was 43ºC. This made for extremely hot race conditions compounded by stifling humidity when the formulation lap started at 2:30 in the afternoon. After one lap in formation, the machines lined up on the grid for the official start. Pole sitter Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira in machine No. 1 (TEAM IMPUL) was a bit slower off the line than the other machines at the front of the grid. Approaching the first corner, the 2nd-position grid starter, Andre Lotterer (No. 36, PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S), was pulling up alongside machine No. 1 on the inside, but De Oliveira held off on the braking as long as possible to thwart Lotterer's challenge and maintain the lead. Getting even a better start than these two front row machines was the 3rd-place qualifier Koudai Tsukakoshi (No. 41, DOCOMO DANDELION RACING). After Lotterer's failed attempt to pass De Oliveira, Tsukakoshi drew up alongside Lotterer on the outside through turns 1 and 2 but was unable to overtake him and ended up going through turn two in 3rd position.
While the race was still in the early stages, machines from the middle and rear of the pack began to make their pits tops in ones and twos. The first was Hiroaki Ishiura in machine No. 8 (Team KYGNUS SUNOCO) who returned to the pit at the end of the first lap for a tire change. On the next lap, Yuji Kunimoto (No. 33, Project μ/cerumo⋅INGING) also returned to the pit. After that, Naoki Yamamoto (No. 16 TEAM MUGEN) made his pit stop at the end of lap six, Daisuke Nakajima (No. 31 NAKAJIMA RACING) after lap seven and Kazuki Nakajima (No. 37 PETRONAS TEAM TOM'S) after lap eight. The crew had a hard time getting the right rear tire off of Yamamoto's machine, causing a big time loss. In contrast, Kazuki Nakajima's tire change helped him improve his lap times considerably and close the gap between him and the leaders, now out of sight.

No.37 Kazuki Nakajima Meanwhile, the two lead drivers were pressing hard and recording lap times in the low 1'38 range. Neither driver was giving an inch in their intense battle. Gradually, however, De Oliveira began to widen his margin of lead. At the end of lap 17 he had opened up a gap of just over five seconds. Of the two leaders, Lotterer in 2nd place was the first to make his pit stop. He returned to the race after not only changing tires but also refueling. His stopped time in the pit was 14.5 seconds. Seeing this, the leader De Oliveira made his pit stop on the next lap. He also had his tires changed and fuel added. His stopped time in the pit was exactly the same 14.5 seconds as Lotterer's. This kept De Oliveira in the lead. After seeing the two leaders pit stops, Tsukakoshi made his. He also had his tires changed and fuel added, but since his lap times up until that point had been slower than Kazuki Nakajima's, he returned to the race to find himself behind Nakajima.
At this point in the race, Kohei Hirate in machine No. 2 (TEAM IMPUL) was running temporarily in the lead. Hirate extended his first stint as long as possible in hopes of moving up in the field after his pit stop. He finally pulled into the pit after lap 27, as the race entered it second half. After a tire change and refueling he returned to the race in 6th position but quickly passed Ishiura right in front of him, thus taking 5th position.

Lotterer keeps the pressure on to the end

In the second stint the two lead drivers continued to push with the shame intensity they had shown in the qualifying laps. Lap after lap their times ranged from the low 1'37 to low 1'38 range. Although the gap between the two dropped to within three seconds at one point, De Oliveira began to pull gradually away from Lotterer once again.
At the end of lap 35 it was Lotterer who made his second pit stop earlier than De Oliveirs, as he had in the first half. After changing tires and refueling in a stopped time of 15.2 seconds he returned to the course. Seeing this, De Oliveira made his stop at the end of the next lap, true to theory. He too changed tires and refueled, but there was a slight delay in the changing of the left front tire that lengthened the stopped time to 17.7 seconds. Despite having taken roughly two seconds more than Lotterer in the pit stop, De Oliveira had built up a lead of nearly six seconds before the stop and was able to return to the track in the lead.

Over the next 16 laps Lotterer's pace was slightly faster than De Oliveira's. Gradually De Oliveira was braking deeper and unable to push as fast as before. Still, the best Lotterer was able to do was to come within two seconds of the leader. After a tough battle that lasted the whole 52 laps of the race, De Oliveira took the checkered for his first win of the season. Lotterer finished 2nd and Kazuki Nakajima came home 3rd after making the best timed pit stops of any. Following from 4th down were Koudai Tsukakoshi (No. 41, DOCOMO DANDELION RACING), Kohei Hirate (No. 2, TEAM IMPUL) and Takuya Izawa (No. 40, DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING).
With the result of this race Lotterer leads the point ranking with 28 points. Also with 28 points, Kazuki Nakajima is relegated to 2nd place based on fewer race wins. With today's perfect pole-to-checkered win, De Oliveira jumps into 3rd place with 25 points. Tsukakoshi also has a shot at the title with his 18-point total. As the series now comes down to its last three races, the title race is certain to grow more intense. As for Takashi Kogure (No. 32, NAKAJIMA RACING), who was expected to be among the leaders at this stage, he had climbed to 5th place from his 9th-position grid start at one point as other drivers made their pit stops, only to have a collision with machine No. 7 (Kazuya Oshima (Team LeMans) coming out of the 90-degree turn on lap 21. That sent him off the course and out of the race.

2nd: No.36 Kazuya Oshima / Winner: No.1 Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira / 3rd: No.37 Kazuki Nakajima

Round4 Motegi Race Digest [YouTube]

Winner comment

It was a tough contest with no room for mistakes

No.1 Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira (TEAM IMPUL)

This was truly a tough race. Not just the hot weather but also the battle with Andre [Lotterer] where I had to run every lap with the intensity of a qualifying time trial. It was really tight with absolutely no room for mistakes. That makes me especially happy to come away from it with the win.
It is true that I didn't exactly get a perfect start. But I found out that Andre next to me hadn't made a much better one. That is why I was able to keep the lead. If he had been able to take the lead at that point in the race, it would have been hard to overtake him. I guess I was a bit nervous because I wanted to get a good start from pole position. So, I guess I was too conscious of it.
In the early stages of this season I wasn't able to get the results I wanted, but we are not being beaten in terms of speed, so I wasn't that worried. More than that, we have had trouble adjusting to the new system [two mandatory pit stops and the overall team strength it demands]. But I guess today's win shows the progress we have made with our preparations in that direction.