DRS has been disabled for this track as it does not have any defined DRS Zones within the track files.
Apologies in advance if I can’t make it tomorrow. I’ve been very busy at home and haven’t been able to practice at all. I’ve never raced on Fuji before so I’d prefer to at least run some laps beforehand if I can. will do my best to make it though.
A treat - I am not sure if I would call Fuji raceway that. One of my less favorite tracks, although todays horific race was not a result of my love-hate realtionship with the track... Just a terrible performance, partly because I never really felt confident with the car. I chose maximum and the hard tyre, because that was the configuration which was the most stable. Not the fastest, but the aim was to avoid spins. That worked to some degree, but I still spun although for different reasons. Sorry Kai, I never heavily braked at that turn, which might be the reason for the collision, but I am not fully sure. You got your revanche a bit later, of course that was also not on purpose but that crash cost another chunk of time. At least, no one else was caught up in our mess. Seventh is ok for such a race, good job Ed - was a good fight. Without that spin in the last turn, you might stay in front of me. The next time, although I hope we then fight a bit more at the front
2nd race of this series. Fuji, A very technical track. Those Japanese know how to build tracks. My first practices had me doing 1.28's with DRS. Figured that was fine. But then came the decision to block the DRS. That had my lap times mid 1.29's... That didn't make me feel sure to have a chance at a podium. Started tweeking the setup and noticed that despite being slower on the long straight a lot of time was gained on the twisty bits. Plus the car was a lot less tail happy as a result. Got back into the 1.28's without DRS. Qualifying: Here there was one goal. Go as fast as the car would let me and hope to get a clean lap in. 1st lap was a banker as I knew the time could be improved on a lot. Went faster on the next 2 laps. Noticed Kiril was doing good too. Took 1 lap to cool down the tires and went for a last effort with time running out. Managed a high 1.27 Personal best. Both Kiril and Michal Mazurek set stunning laps too. Race: Realising the start grid was tighter than I expected I needed to have a good start. I knew that if I got through the 1st corner first I would be in a good place to maintain that lead. That worked out well, but I needed to get a big enough gap by the time we reached the long straight as the others were going to be faster on that part of the track. Had about a 0.7 sec lead at the last corner. Apparently due to me using a different line through that corner the speed difference only showed at the end of the straight. Noticed it was Kiril behind, not Michal. I shouldn't have told to use the medium tires Anyway, Kiril kept up with me for about 3 laps. I was controlling the pace as I wanted to spare the tires. Did want to do one or 2 very fast laps the increase the gap. Got up to about a 3 sec lead when it appeared to be Michal behind me. Kiril must have made a mistake because he showed in 4th. Decided to go for consistent fast but safe laps. At one point I came up to the first car to be lapped. Edward Jones (I think) was very aware I was there and lifted early for the next corner to give me the racing line. Nicely done. The next cars to be lapped were in a battle with each other. That for me was a signal to be extra cautious. And what I expected happened. One car spun taking out the other car. I barely managed to avoid it. BIG brown moment there Can't blame them as they were in their own race. Anyway got on with my race. Next lap I came upon the next one to lap. Jose I think. He clearly saw me as he went wide on a corner to let me through. Again well done. From then on it was clear sailing to the end of the race. I'm glad I found the setup that I used as it helped me a lot. Well done to all and gratz to Michal and Toni for the podium finish. Up to the next one. Sugo
Oh you guys were on meds? Lacking experiekcexof tyre wear and such went for hards. I did learn a bit while racing and noticed my straight line speed was ok but reading comment above, guess i went the wrong way
I remembered afterwards I’d raced on the track in the good Gran Turismo days. Always loved the original version but never really liked the update Tilke did. It went from a fast flowing track to a fast, then really (really) slow technical section which felt awful to me and ruined the flow, however I knew he had to do it to provide the required lap time requirement for an F1 race. Booooooooo. lol. Amazing scenery at this track though.
