TOPICS
Taira makes it back-to-back wins after outduelling Kimura
Hibiki Taira（Mobility Chukyo TOM’S 320 TGR-DC）
One night after the long 26-lap race the 2023 Japanese Super Formula Lights championship now moved on to the final day of the Sportsland Sugo event for Rd 5 and Rd 6 races, and Rd 5 race got a start for 19 laps at 9am with temperatures of 28C.
In the Saturday’s qualifying for Rd 5 Hibiki Taira driving Mobility Chukyo TOM’S 320 TGR-DC secured second consecutive pole position for Rd 5. Iori Kimura (in HFDP WITH B-MAX RACING) initially topped the times with 1m14.488 and Shun Koide (HFDP WITH TODA RACING) followed him with 1m14.897, but Taira posted 1m14.693 first and then reduced it to 1m14.418.
Igor Omura Fraga (FANATEC-GRAN TURISMO with B-MAX) qualified fourth ahead of Yuui Tsutsumi (Rn-sports F320).
Yuga Furutani (Deloitte, HTP TOM’S 320), who placed eighth in times, was hit with a five-place grid penalty for engine change before the race.
Start of Round.5■The grid sees slow starts from two cars
At the start in the summer heat the lead three each got a smooth start, while Omura Fraga in fourth and Tsutsumi in fifth struggled to get up to speed.
Following Taira, Kimura and Koide, Enzo Trulli (Mobility Chukyo TOM’S 320) and David Vidales (B-MAX RACING 320) got around the first corner in fourth and fifth respectively after comfortably making two places.
Unlike the previous race where the intensified battle over second place made it a relatively stress-free for Taira, Rd 5 started to look like a head-to-head fight between him and Kimura as early as the beginning, as Taira’s advantage was just 0.499 secs even at the end of lap five with Koide in third left behind.
The lead fight remained tense thereafter, with Taira firmly defending his lead at critical points such as the first corner and Umanose.
While the field gradually spread behind the top three Omura Fraga in sixth and Tsutsumi in seventh also fought a close battle, separated by less than a second, which would continue to the closing stages.
The early stages ended with the gap of one another among the race leaders remaining unchanged.
When the race neared the halfway point with no position changes in the leaders, things dramatically changed on lap nine when Takashi Hata (A-NeKT with B-MAX 320) slightly ran off at the exit of SP and hit the kerbs, losing his front wing.
The safety car was summoned to clear the part that fell on the run down to the final corner, and the gaps among the leaders were reset.
Hibiki Taira（Mobility Chukyo TOM’S 320 TGR-DC）
■Taira nails restart to take victory
At the restart at lap 14 no changes occurred in the positions of the top three, but behind them tense battles broke out into the S-shape turn as Vidales challenged Trulli in fourth, and right behind the two Omura Fraga, Tsutsumi and Seita Nonaka (PONOS Racing TOM’S 320 TGR-DC) launched actions trying hard to gain places, narrowly avoiding crashes.
With close battles seen at different places Nonaka in eighth slightly ran wide, allowing Furutani to get ahead.
Despite no other changes in order the scrap between Trulli and Vidales intensified towards the end of the race.
Staying out of the melee Taira kept his buffer over Kimura stable to make it back-to-back wins. A point for setting the fastest lap, however, was earned by Kimura.
Koide took his podium finish in third.
There was no position change with the scrap between Trulli and Vidales, either.
Tsutsumi fended off Furutani to place seventh behind Omura Fraga.
Nobuhiro Imada (JMS RACING with B-MAX) took master class win for the second race in a row. He allowed DRAGON (TEAM DRAGON B-MAX 320) to get ahead at the start, but snatch back the lead at the first corner on lap two.
