Kogure wins Formula Nippon Round 1 at Suzuka19/04/2010
Kogure dominates at Suzuka
The first round of the Formula Nippon series took place at Japan’s Suzuka circuit on Sunday 18 April. Nakajima Racing’s Takashi Kogure won the opening round of the season, clinching a pole to flag victory.
Andre Lotterer (Petronas Team Tom’s) was quickest in session 1 and 2 of Saturday’s qualifying and looked likely to set the fastest lap in session 3, though the German driver stalled at the hairpin during his flying lap. Kogure went on to claim his fourteenth pole position of his Formula Nippon career. Second position went to de Oliveira (Mobil1 TEAM IMPUL) and third place to Lotterer.
Weather was fine for race day and de Oliveira made a good start pulling quickly to the front of the pack. Tire changes were compulsory in this race, so de Oliveira pitted on lap 26 with Kogure pitting on the lap following. Kogure made a quick pit stop and managed to take back the lead and crossed the finishing line ahead of de Oliveira. Third place went to Lotterer.
Kogure happy with Suzuka win
“I wanted to do get ahead at the start of the race but I made bad start. It was hard while the tires were not warm enough at the beginning, but once they warmed up I could push closer to de Oliveira. Thanks to the team strategy and pit stop, I was able to regain the lead. After the pit stop it was a good race even though only the two rear tires were changed. However I got flat spot at the very end of the race on one of my front tires. It was a hard time again but I kept my position and won.” Takashi Kogure, Nakajima Racing
Congratulations to Kogure and Nakajima Racing
“I would like to say, congratulations to Nakajima Racing and Kogure. Bridgestone provided a hard compound tire for this race. From a tire wear point of view, during the whole 220 km race the teams did not need to change tires but the compulsory tire change rule was set. It gave the teams the opportunity to choose a variety of strategies. There were many good battles and positions changed by the strategy selection” Yasuo Teranishi, Bridgestone Senior Tire Technical Advisor
