Nick Cassidy has finished 17th in the opening round of the 2017 Super Formula Series at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, after qualifying 14th.
“I was really happy with my qualifying laps, got that maximum of what we have this weekend,” commented Cassidy. “It’s been a tough weekend with mechanical issues that have hurt our Free Practice time, but making the most of it.”
Pole position starter Kazuki Nakajima got off to a strong start to the 35 lap (203 km) championship race. From the 3rd grid, Naoki Yamamoto got off to a good start as well, helping him to jump up in front of last season’s champion, 2nd grid starter Yuji Kunimoto.
Andre Lotterer was the first to head to the pit for the mandatory tire change on the initial lap. Several cars soon followed suit. Hiroaki Ishiura of last year’s championship team headed to the pit on lap 2, then his teammate Kunimoto came in on lap 3. Kunimoto had only one tire changed, which was the minimum stipulated for this race. He also had fuel added so he could finish the race without needing to come back to the pit.
Kamui Kobayashi headed to the pit on lap 13, and had his back 2 tires changed to gain added grip. After he came out onto the track, during the out lap in the chicane, the former F1 driver had heated up his tires, which helped him to successfully pass F1 reserve driver Pierre Gasly.
On lap 23, Kazuya Oshima, who had been running a solid race to that point, spun out and ended up being stuck in the middle of the track. This brought out the yellow flag and subsequently the safety car. Top-running Kazki Nakajima took advantage of the situation and headed to the pit for the mandatory tire change. 2nd running Yamamoto also did the same. Nakajima was successfully able to get back onto the track ahead of Kunimoto, and keep his lead. So on lap 27, all of the cars had taken care of their mandatory tire change, and the safety car left the track. At that point, it was Nakajima, Yamamoto, Kunimoto, and Lotterer in the top 4 spots.
Nakajima kept a consistent pace from that point on, helping to claim his 9th Super Formula victory with a pole to win showing. Finishing in 2nd was Yamamoto, in 3rd Kunimoto, and in 4th Ishiura.
Race results
1 37 Kazuki Nakajima VANTELIN KOWA TOM’S SF14TOYOTA RI4A
2 16 Naoki Yamamoto TEAM MUGEN SF14Honda HR-417E
3 1 Yuji Kunimoto P.MU/CERUMO・INGING SF14TOYOTA RI4A
4 2 Hiroaki Ishiura P.MU/CERUMO・INGING SF14TOYOTA RI4A
5 36 Andre Lotterer VANTELIN KOWA TOM’S SF14TOYOTA RI4A
6 10 Koudai Tsukakoshi REAL SF14Honda HR-417E
7 64 Daisuke Nakajima TCS NAKAJIMA RACING SF14Honda HR-417E
8 41 Takuya Izawa DOCOMO DANDELION M41Y SF14Honda HR-417E
9 18 Kamui Kobayashi KCMG Elyse SF14TOYOTA RI4A
10 15 Pierre Gasly TEAM MUGEN SF14Honda HR-417E
11 7 Felix Rosenqvist SUNOCO TEAM LEMANS SF14TOYOTA RI4A
12 19 Yuhi Sekiguchi ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL SF14TOYOTA RI4A
13 65 Narain Karthikeyan TCS NAKAJIMA RACING SF14Honda HR-417E
14 4 Kenta Yamashita FUJI×raffinee KONDO SF14TOYOTA RI4A
15 50 Takashi Kogure B-Max Racing team SF14Honda HR-417E
16 40 Tomoki Nojiri DOCOMO DANDELION M40S SF14Honda HR-417E
17 3 Nick Cassidy FUJI×raffinee KONDO SF14TOYOTA RI4A
18 20 Jann Mardenborough ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL SF14TOYOTA RI4A
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