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2 pm, temperature 24℃ and track temperature 31℃. Under these conditions, 20 minutes of Q1 was held. As the pit-lane opened up, most drivers entered the course in used tires. Some machines strategically put on new sets of tires for Q1. Right as the qualification started, No.36 Andre Lotterer (VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S) went off course at the ‘S’ curve. Although Lotterer was able to go back onto the track, this marked the beginning of the drastic qualification to be held at the Suzuka Circuit on Saturday.

Every driver checked their machine setup wearing used tires during the practice lap. After going into the pits and putting on new sets of tires, all machines headed off for their time attack. With 7 minutes left, No.11 Takuya Izawa (REAL RACING), No.10 Koudai Tsukakoshi (REAL RACING) led the pack to go into the course. No.64 Daisuke Nakajima (NAKAJIMA RACING) was the last to go into the track with 5 minutes left in Q1. However, at under 2 minutes to go and with every driver in their attack laps, No.19 João Paulo de Oliveira (ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL) lost balance at the Dunlop corner and slid across the course. The machine stopped on the track, stopping the session with a red flag. After the machine was taken off course, the qualification re-started with just 3 minutes left of the session. 18 machines coursed in following Yamamoto, Tsukakoshi, and Izawa. While the machines moved into the course, No.20 Yuhi Sekiguchi (ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL) had an engine stall in the pit road but soon went out along with the other machines. It was Yamamoto who marked the top time, followed by No.1 Hiroaki Ishiura (P.MU/CERUMO · INGING), No.34 Takashi Kogure (DRAGO CORSE), No.41 Stoffel Vandoorne (DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING), No.8 Kamui Kobayashi (SUNOCO TEAM LEMANS), No.64 Daisuke Nakajima (NAKAJIMA RACING), No.37 Kazuki Nakajima (VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S), No.10 Koudai Tsukakoshi (REAL RACING), No.3 James Rossiter (KONDO RACING), No.36 Andre Lotterer (VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S), No.40 Tomoki Nojiri (DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING), No.11 Takuya Izawa (REAL RACING), No.65 Bertrand Baguette (NAKAJIMA RACING), No.2 Yuji Kunimoto (P.MU/CERUMO · INGING).

But in the last attack in Q1, No.4 William Buller (KONDO RACING) goes off course at the Spoon. A yellow flag was waved in the zone. Buller soon returned to the course, but it was Ishiura and Daisuke who had to pass that zone during the incident. For the two of them, their best times were crossed out, kicking them out of Q1. Sekiguchi and No.7 Narain Karthikeyan (SUNOCO TEAM LEMANS) moved on the Q2 replacing the two. It was pure bad luck for Ishiura and Daisuke who had been in good conditions from testing this season.

Because the order for Q1 had to be verified, Q2 started at 2:40 pm, 10 minutes late of what had been planned. In this session, every driver put on new sets of tires and went into the course. After their warm up lap, the drivers went into the attack with 3 minutes left of Q2. Vandoorne marked a time of 1'38.438, followed by Yamamoto’s 1'38.187, Kobayashi’s 1'38.329, Kunimoto’s 1'38.427, placing themselves in front of Vandoorne. However, just like Q1, the session is stopped by a red flag. This was because Kazuki Nakajima lost balance at the Spoon corner, rolling onto the curve stone which caused his machine to spin and stop off course. Kazuki Nakajima was unable to go back to the pits on his own, and this marked the end of qualification for him. After the machine was moved off track, Q2 restarted at 2:55 pm. With 3 minutes left, Yamamoto and Kunimoto who already marked times stayed in the pits. Kamui just ran an out lap and went back into his pit. But for the drivers who didn’t have their times yet, they had to push to stay in the qualification. No drivers were able to mark times in front of the 4 drivers who already had their times, but the order below 5th place changed drastically during the 3 minutes. 5th was Kogure, Sekiguchi 6th, Tsukakoshi 7th, and Nojiri 8th. These were the drivers who moved out to Q1 and Q2. Lotterer, Rossiter, Izawa, Baguette and Karthikeyan were kicked out of the qualification.

No.2 Yuji Kunimoto

After a 10 minute interval, the 7 minute Q3 started at 3:08 pm. Every driver put on new tires and coursed in. Tsukakoshi was the first to attack, marking a time of 1'38.367. But Sekiguchi who attacked right after marks a 1'37.952. Then Kunimoto marks a time in front of Sekiguchi by 0.1 seconds. Kobayashi makes a mistake in the Degner curve and couldn’t mark a good enough time. Vandoorne follows with a time of 1'37.962, Nojiri 1'37.964. But it was Yamamoto who marked the best time at the very end of Q3. He took the pole position by a time of 1'37.459, which was 0.4 seconds ahead of Kunimoto who was the leader until then. During practice on Friday, Yamamoto was unable to drive the way he wanted to due to machine trouble. He wasn’t able to mark good times in the practice laps right before the qualification, either. But he made a huge comeback and earned himself the pole position.

Will Yamamoto run away with the position? Kunimoto for his first ever win in the series? Or will the rookies starting from the second row be under the spotlight? It’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow at the Suzuka Circuit.

No.20 Yuhi Sekiguchi

Qualifying Digest [VIDEO LIBRARY]

Qualifying TOP 3

I want to be the first to come back tomorrow and thank everyone

Pole Position
No.16 Naoki Yamamoto (TEAM MUGEN)

I wasn’t in good conditions from yesterday’s practice, and to be honest I didn’t think I was in the league to fight for the pole position. The moment I felt confident that I could reach for the pole position was at the end of Q1, when we put in our second set of tires. Until then, I didn’t think we had the potential to mark a good time, and I was struggling myself. But from the second set of tires in Q1, the machine started getting better and the pole position is a result of the hard work we put in during testing in Okayama and carrying out things just like the simulation. We had problems yesterday, but I was able to get the pole position thanks to the engineers and mechanics who worked hard until late at night, and all of the Honda project members. I am thankful for everyone, and I want to be the first to come back tomorrow and thank them even more.
It didn’t go the way we wanted until the middle of Q1, but after changing the setting and putting on new tires, the machine changed drastically and I felt the potential in it. From there, I was able to adjust to how I usually fight for the pole position and made it just in time, and get my wheels on the right rail. After that, it was just push, push, push...

I am frustrated because I have been doing everything to get on pole

2nd
No.2 Yuji Kunimoto (P.MU/CERUMO · INGING)

The qualifying session was very drastic, and it was a situation where I could be knocked out of the league any time. In yesterday and this morning’s practice, we actually had some trouble with the machine so I was a little bit worried. But I wanted to drive comfortably and the team worked hard for that and as a result, we were able to place 2nd on the grid. But I have been working hard to get the pole position, so honestly I am very frustrated.
Before the red flag during Q2, I was able to do a good attack, and I didn’t think I could pull out a better time after that. So that’s why I didn’t go for another lap after the red flag. There was a time just like this situation (2014 season, SUGO Circuit during Q2) where I didn’t go out after the session re-started, and a number of Honda machines marked better times causing me to be kicked out of the Q2. Most machines went out this time so I was worried, but I just believed in myself and stayed calm, preparing myself for Q3. I think that was the key to my success this time, and it allowed me to result in a better time after Q2, too.

Looking back at where I started, I am very satisfied

3rd
No.20 Yuhi Sekiguchi (ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL)

We were 1.7 seconds late from the top time in yesterday’s practice, 1.8 seconds late this morning and started off from 17th position. The team worked very hard last night to fill in this gap. I have to say the machine didn’t improve that much, but the improvement from this morning’s practice to qualifying was thanks to the team for sure. I am thankful and very impressed to see the machine start off from 1.8 seconds late and end up where I am now. Also, I was 15th place for Q1 but due to penalties (other machines’), I held on to my life (moved on to Q2 in 13th) and managed to survive on. During Q2, other machines made mistakes and there were some spinning going on, and the timing to attack was hard to figure out with the red flags. But I was able to stay in the battle and ended up in 3rd position on the grid. Looking back at where I started from, I am very satisfied. I want to thank the team for everything.
During my times in F3, I wasn’t good at getting a good start. But for some reason, I find myself comfortable in SUPER FORMULA and I have been successful in starting practices as well. The series and machine seem to fit me as of now, so tomorrow I want to dive for the No.1 position in the first corner, and finish the race with some major blocking. (laughs)