Nick Cassidy has finished second at the third round of the Super Formula Series at Sportsland SUGO in Japan. Starting from 11th, Cassidy pitted on just the third lap to change from medium to soft tires, a risky move that worked out to his advantage later in the race.
“Starting 11th, to be honest, was better than I expected this weekend,” Cassidy said. “I didn’t have a good Friday. Saturday morning was so difficult. My feeling wasn’t good.
“We were pole at this race last year but the car set up we started with was the same as last year and we weren’t quick, so it made it quite confusing and hard to find the right direction. Finally, in the eight minute warm up I found something.
“I’m most pleased with how I managed that race. That was incredible, to do 63 laps on the soft tyre was unthinkable. I had to save a lot of fuel as well so I’m really pleased with the strategy and how I managed that.”
A number of drivers had contact during the race causing several safety car periods. After all the cars had completed their tyre changes Naoki Yamamoto held the lead followed by Cassidy, Kazuki Nakajima, Tom Dillman, Narain Karthikeyan in 5th, and Kamui in 6th. Those are the spots they took the checkered flag in. Yamamoto was able to maintain his lead and pick up his 2nd victory of the 2018 season.
Cassidy sits second overall heading to the fourth round at FUJI Speedway.
Series Points (Top 5)
1. Naoki Yamamoto 21pt.
2 Nick Cassidy 10pt.
3 Tomoki Nojiri 9pt.
4 Yuhi Sekiguchi 8pt.
5 Kazuki Nakajima 7pt.
Race Results (Round three)
1. Naoki Yamamoto 58 laps
2. Nick Cassidy +9.424
3. Kazuki Nakajima +10.111
4. Tom Dillmann +21.446
5. Narain Karthikeyan +22.056
6. Kamui Kobayashi +26.014
7. Tomoki Nojiri +28.937
8. Kenta Yamashita +32.446
9. Ryō Hirakawa +33.039
10. Nobuhara Matsushita +33.758
11. Hiroaki Ishiura +34.591
12. Koudai Tsukakoshi +40.454
13. Yuhi Sekiguchi +40.561
14. Takuya Izawa +1 lap
15. Kazuya Oshima +1 lap
DNF. Yuji Kunimoto
DNF. Katsumasa Chiyo
DNF. James Rossiter
DNF. Daniel Ticktum
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