Formula Nippon Feature - To Be The Fastest
23/06/2006
This year sees the start of an all-new Bridgestone-shod Formula Nippon, with new rules to find out just who is Japan’s fastest Formula Nippon driver. The rule changes see a new chassis and two new engines from Toyota and Honda.
The Toyota and Honda engines are based on the IndyCar Series 3-liter V8 engines, modified for Formula Nippon rules to deliver a maximum of approximately 550 hp at a maximum 10,300 rpm.
This is a 10% increase over the previous maximum power of 500 hp. The 1,300 rpm increase in maximum revs over the old 9,000 rpm means the sound of the cars in the new Formula Nippon is distinctively higher.
The cars’ front tyres now feature a 10mm wider front tread for improved grip and superior front-rear tyre balance. And there’s a new wet tyre design with an advanced three-dimensional block design.
Team drivers this year are Satoshi Motoyama, Ryo Michigami, Sakon Yamamoto and Takashi Kogure, while the team directors are Satoru Nakajima, Hideki Okada, Masahiko Kondo and Katsutomo Kaneishi, with Bridgestone’s key Tyre Development spokesman Tetsuro Kobayashi
The first race of the 2006 Formula Nippon series was held at Fuji Speedway on April 2. Here’s what the drivers and team directors who were there for the opening race said about the new rules for Formula Nippon.
Satoshi Motoyama (pictured, above)
Arting RACING TEAM with IMPUL (Toyota engine)
The new engines and chassis in this year’s Formula Nippon give us more power and downforce, so the race was really fast. The front tyres are fatter, and the new wet tyre pattern really improves grip.
As a driver, I feel that this race has become more interesting than ever before, and I certainly think this year’s Formula Nippon is better for spectators.
For the 2006 season, I’m driving the Number 1 car, and I’ll be striving to live up to the number. I hope you’ll support me as I go all out, aiming to end the season as champion.
Ryo Michigami
TEAM RECKLESS 5ZIGEN (Honda engine)
I was coming back to Formula Nippon after a year away, and I could really feel how much this race has evolved thanks to the changes in the machines and tyres.
My time for the opening race at Fuji Speedway was over 2 seconds faster than before. The new machines have more power, and the new chassis gives greater downforce.
What this means is that you really feel the speed, and enjoy cornering a lot more. I think the wider front tyres this season give better grip, which means better times.
It was a pity that I had a lot of trouble in the opening race and couldn’t really show off the car’s performance. This was a shame, because the machine now has so much more potential. I feel that the 2006 Formula Nippon is going to be very interesting because of the greater number of cars in the race.
In Formula Nippon, all the tyres are provided by one maker, Bridgestone, but each driver uses them in a different way.
It’s the same for wet and for dry tyres – wear is very different depending on the way the machine is set up and the way you drive. I think that driving so as to get the best out of your tyres is the key to winning.
In any case, it’s the tyres that are closest to the track and they are essential for controlling the movement of the machine. Even a small change in the tyres means we have to change the setup of the machine in order to keep it easy to drive. I always believe in deciding on the tyres first, and then setting up the machine.
Sakon Yamamoto
KONDO RACING (Toyota engine)
This season’s engine changes have given increased speed on the straight. I also think that the increased downforce from the chassis itself is raising speeds over the entire course.
The wider front tyres have made the front more responsive than last year, and the better handling response makes the machine a lot more fun to drive.
One thing we have to be careful of is that the handling is a lot more sensitive than last year, so we have to get the setup just right or it will become too sensitive.
The final race of round one was unfortunately ruined by rain, but the grip of the wet tyres was excellent and driving even in those conditions felt good. We didn’t fully test the limits of their durability during the tests, so we plan to do more work on that later.
Takashi Kogure
AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI (Honda engine)
Work on tuning the new engines and chassis is going well. The new tyres have much better grip compared to last year’s, and they are giving us a significant boost in cornering speed.
The racing is definitely more dynamic - I’m sure it’s quite visible to spectators, and the higher sound of these new engines makes things more exciting too.
The new wet tyres feel they give much more grip, and we’re seeing better performance even in wet conditions.
Times are getting faster. In Formula Nippon, you find big time differences depending on how you use the tyres, and this is what sets the teams apart. In this race, the tyres are the vital element.
The new engines are supplied by two manufacturers, Toyota and Honda, but I don’t think there is much difference in performance. It does give an extra spur to the drivers, though. They don’t want to lose to a rival because their engine is different, and this extra bit of tension adds excitement to the contest.
This season we have new teams, a new chassis and new engines, but so far everything is going very smoothly. We’re aiming to get our first win in quickly, with the goal of becoming series champion.
Opening race comments from the team directors
Satoru Nakajima
PIAA NAKAJIMA (Honda engine)
We’ve been kept very busy by the extra number of elements the team has to contend with, and with setting up the new chassis completely from zero. The new engine has been running very smoothly, though. It has a lot of power.
The tyres have evolved again this year and grip is much improved. Under dry conditions, these tyres are durable enough to last to the race’s mid point before they need changing, and I think the amount of grip they provide is just right.
This season, our team has two young drivers so I think we may have to struggle a bit for the first half. These are strong drivers, though, and I’m sure they’ll be settled in by mid-season. We think we’re in with a good chance.
It’s our team policy to give young drivers opportunities like this. We see it as our contribution to the development of motorsports by encouraging new driving talent. We also see it as a winning strategy for our team.
Hideki Okada
Arting RACING TEAM with IMPUL (Toyota engine)
Because of the major changes due to the new engines and tyres, we have no past race data to help us decide what to do in rain or dry conditions.
Our team is helped a little by having four cars, and we acquired a lot of data on the new wet tyres even during the morning warm-up for the opening race. The way each team has a different strategy based on how they use their tyres adds new interest to the race.
You should watch closely what tyre changing strategy the teams choose when it rains.
I’ve led teams in many different categories in the past, but this is my first time as team director in Formula Nippon. I feel a lot of responsibility being director in Japan’s leading race category.
As well as the pressure to win, I feel that Kazuyoshi Hoshino (our general manager) is depending on me not to let him down as director. We’ll be giving each race our best shot, and hope to end the season as champions.
Masahiko Kondo
KONDO RACING (Toyota engine)
These chassis and engine changes really have all the Formula Nippon teams very excited. After using the same chassis and engine for years, everybody’s delighted to have new cars. Of course there will be problems to face, but everyone on our team is looking forward to the new challenges.
We have a team of young drivers, so our racing will be very aggressive. This entails some risk, but playing offense will show off the quality of our young drivers. As a team, we’ll be taking big risks, but as director that’s what I want them to do.
This year’s Formula Nippon rules allow for two engine types, and only one make of chassis and tyres. Drivers who really know how to use Bridgestone tyres get very fast speeds. There may be only one make of tyre, but you can tell from the data which drivers use their tyres well and which don’t.
Just looking at the state of the tyres after the race shows you who’s good and who’s not. In this top race category, just like in F1, the fastest drivers are those who know how to use their tyres.
Katsutomo Kaneishi
AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI (Honda engine)
The new engine is tremendously powerful. In the qualifying round for the opening race, as far as we could measure we were going over 310 km/h down the Fuji straight end. Faster cars mean a more dynamic and exciting race for spectators too, and you really shouldn’t miss this year’s Formula Nippon.
The front tyres are a little wider, balance with the rear tyres has been improved and they warm up nicely. The grip feels improved too, and I think a major part of each team’s winning strategy will involve setting up their machines to take best advantage of the new tyres.
As this year’s Formula Nippon team director, I’m experiencing all kinds of new responsibilities for the first time. Aguri said the same thing, and I really believe it’s true: the drivers have the most fun. I remember when I was a driver, my responsibilities were over once I was debriefed after the race. Then I could enjoy myself.
Now, as director, that’s when my job starts - I have to figure out where to go next. I have to deal with more people and handle many more problems. Compared to driving, it’s interesting in a whole lot of different ways, though.
I choose the setup and the race strategy, and when my decisions improve our position or speed, that is so much more satisfying than anything I experienced before.
Saying that, we are still at the stage before thinking about our race strategy. The new conditions are barely tested and we are still wondering how to best set the machines up for our drivers.
Our team is returning to Formula Nippon after a two-year absence. I don’t think that will affect our chances of winning at all, and we are determined to take the series title.
Q and A with Tetsuro Kobayashi, Head of Bridgestone Tyre Development for Formula Nippon
This year’s Formula Nippon uses new front tyres. Engine performance has been increased this year, so speeds are gradually increasing too and this inevitably tends to place extra load on the front tyres. To handle this, we have slightly increased the width of the front tyres to improve their capacity to grip.
So the new tyres are in response to the new engines?
No, even before the rule change, machine performance was increasing each year and gradually putting a bigger burden on the front tyres. We were planning tyre improvements long before the engine rules changed. I’m very happy that our front tyres have evolved in time to handle the extra power of this year’s engines.
Did you change tyre construction to handle the extra downforce?
No, there have been no fundamental changes to the internal tyre construction. And we’ve made no big changes in regard to the rubber compound either, as we continued to optimize it based on the lessons of the 2005 season.
Until this year, we have always used hard compound for races at Fuji Speedway, but for 2006 we changed to medium compound. So we are making small changes in the compound we use to match each circuit and the current state of tyre evolution.
Tell us more about the new 3D pattern for the wet tyres.
The basic idea for this block shape with a 3D curved design has already been used in F3 races. It’s quite unusual for heavy rain to continue falling with the same strength throughout a race. Far more common is alternating heavy and light rainfall, with clear periods.
In other words, the track surface keeps changing as it gets damp, then starts to dry out. We wanted to maintain the water displacement performance of previous wet tyres while strengthening block rigidity to cope with a wide variety of track surface changes. That’s why we chose this 3D block design.
If we try to strengthen the rigidity of a block surrounded by a simple flat surface, the grooves become narrower as we make the blocks bigger. But narrower grooves mean water is displaced less effectively. To avoid this, we used an angular curved 3D shape for the block sidewalls that gives a firm foundation for each block.
This spreads the load and gives increased block rigidity even when there’s strong pressure from the track. The angled block sidewalls mean the overall groove volume is big enough to ensure good water displacement performance.
As the wet track dries out, the tyres will wear and groove volume will decrease but this is not a problem since the tyres no longer have to handle heavy rain by that point.
What are the things to look for in this Formula Nippon season?
I think you’ll see fiercer competition with engines supplied by two makers, but I also think a lot of interest will be added to the race by the rule that only one make of tyres is allowed.
All the cars will be using Bridgestone tyres with identical specs, but the rate of wear of the tyres over the course of a race will vary greatly for each machine. Maintaining performance throughout the race will be a real test of the teams’ technical ability and their skill at setting up their machines.
This also depends greatly on the driver’s skills. Formula Nippon is a test of each team’s combined strengths – I think that’s what makes it most interesting.