Essentially the penultimate round of the Japanese Super Formula series will take place at the Motegi circuit this weekend, leaving only the Suzuka final in two months’ time, where double races will take place.
Therefore, it is now fundamental for anyone claiming the title to earn as many points as possible, including Liam Lawson, who until today took 2nd place in the individual ranking.
Today was the qualification and the New Zealand rider Red Bull, who plays for Team Mugen, showed the 3rd fastest time. Under the rules of this series, points are also awarded to the top three based on qualifying results, meaning Lawson got an extra bonus point for the 3rd result and became the leader of the series. Commenting on Saturday’s results, Liam started by saying it was very hot – the thermometer in Motegi really went above 30 degrees.
Liam Lawson: “Very hot, although of course I’ve gotten used to such high temperatures. Dealing with the heat is important to accomplishing the tasks ahead of me in tomorrow’s race. But today I’m just sweaty.
In the morning I studied the track, but during the first part of qualifying the asphalt was just hot. Then, however, the clouds thickened and the track began to cool. I knew this would affect the speed increase and just tried to fly better and add where possible.
In addition, we worked a lot with the technique and made a lot of changes in the settings – the guys from the Mugen team did a great job and prepared a very good car for me, which allowed me to fight with rivals. In general, I am happy that I was able to pay for myself and show a good result.
The task for tomorrow’s race is first and foremost to get off to a good start, because we haven’t been able to achieve stability during the season – some starts went well, others less so. It is important to start with confidence, then we will see how the events develop.”
It is worth adding that Noiri Tomoki, Liam’s team-mate in Team Mugen, will start from pole position, and the New Zealand rider’s main rival, Ritomu Miata, only showed an 8th result.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
