Qualifying Report 2021/6/19 Rd-4 Sports Land SUGO Weather：Rain Temperature：19℃ 19cars Sportsland SUGO is located in the Tohoku region, where the rainy season will set in before long. As had been forecasted, the qualifying was held in the rain sequentially last round at Autopolis. As an exceptional case, at Sportsland SUGO whose track is long and narrow, top seven cars in each of A and B groups run at a time in QF2 just like QF1 to avoid traffic during attacks. In QF1, Makino in Grp A went on-track with new wet tires as soon as the course opened. He warmed up the tires lap by lap, and recorded the best time in the fifth measuring. He moved on to QF2 first. Fukuzumi in Grp B broke the top time every lap and made it through QF2 in first place in the group. In QF2, Makino in Grp A recorded the fastest time from the beginning as he did in QF1, however, he felt performance degradation of the rear tires during the attack lap. He finished in third for QF3. Just about QF2 for Grp B started, the rain got heavier. When Fukuzumi attacked carefully and became second, two cars went off-track and the red flag came out. It was restarted with 3 min remaining. Fukuzumi finished in second, however, since the car at the top was the one which caused the red flag condition and its time was deleted as penalty, Fukuzumi moved onto QF3 in first. In the following QF3, Makino, who felt lowering the grip force of the rear tires, changed to scrubbed wet tires. On the other hand, Fukuzumi had no trouble in tire performance, so he only adjusted the set-up without tire change and went on-track. The both drivers shortened their times in each section. Although their good records were expected, Makino finished in second by only 0.04 sec, and Fukuzumi ended up in fifth because his set-up did not meet the heavier rain. #5: Nirei Fukuzumi Position 5th (QF1 GrpB 1st, QF2 GrpB 1st, QF3 5th) 2nd among Honda users My time was pretty good from the start and I was in the lead, but I didn’t feel enough grip force. I was never uneasy about tires, so I changed the set-up for QF3. It didn’t turn out to be what I expected, however, I will still start from a good position to compete for a victory and it will be a dry condition race tomorrow. I will drive to win! #6: Tadasuke Makino Position 2nd (QF1 GrpA 1st, QF2 GrpA 3rd, QF3 2nd) 1st among Honda users My team had prepared an excellent car which had potential for taking the pole position, but because of my mistake, I became second by a narrow margin. Considering the last race at Autopolis, I am positive about my quickness in QF. It will be my first dry condition race with Dandelion Racing tomorrow. I am a little anxious, but I will fight well with the total team capabilities. Race Report 2021/6/20 Rd-4 Sports Land SUGO Weather: fine/Cloudy Temperature: 24℃, 19cars Audience: 2,600/19th (Sat.) 4,600/20th (Sun.) 7,200 total It was not anything like as rainy and cold as it was yesterday. On race day, the strong sunlight poured through the clouds and the temperature was going up. It is said that there lives an evil spirit in SUGO. The power relations of the drivers might be completely different from those in QF yesterday. Makino who started from the second grid in the front row dropped his position to fifth because acceleration had been weakened a little. On the other hand, Fukuzumi in the fifth grid got off to a hot start, and raised two positions up to third. He drove breaking the fastest lap time lap by lap and he won the intense competition for the second position in the First Corner. Makino raised his position in the high-speed technical corner. The both drivers kept driving steadily in line with the team’s strategies. When Sekiguchi, the leader, made a pit-stop, Fukuzumi used the overtake system and then made a pit stop on L18. The team finished rapid pit work in 7 sec responding to his performance, and Fukuzumi succeeded to go back on-track in front of Sekiguchi. Makino was taking the strategy of shortening time while forward of him was open, however, he was blocked by a slow car and lost time. He made a pit-stop on L24. When all the cars finished pit stops, Fukuzumi was going far ahead of the runner-up by more than 6 sec, and finally won his first victory of Super Formula. Makino won the close fight over 10 laps with Nojiri and finished in fifth with 6 points. #5: Nirei Fukuzumi Position 1st (1st among Honda users) In QF in the rain yesterday, I felt the gap between the leader and me. Today, in dry condition, I had a good feeling about my car and could focus on starting. My car was fast from the beginning, and when I competed for second in First Corner, I could raise my position while sideswiping the competitor. I could calmly deal with my pace and timing of pit-stop by frequent correspondence with my team. I lost races that I could have won until today, but I finally won the race, and my only feeling right now is gratitude to all the supporters. It is just a check point for me, so I will make use of this experience and the result for the next race. #6: Tadasuke Makino Position 5th (4th among Honda users) The surface condition of inside of the track was not good, so I dropped my position at the start. However, I maintained my pace considering the abrasion of tires and race development. There were difficulties in strategy choice and I found points to look back on and issues to be dealt with. It was the first dry condition race after my comeback, and I also realized my physical strain. My performance in QF was good, and overall, I could think positively through the weekend and it brought me one step closer to my goal. Please look forward to my performance in the next race at Motegi! .