Andrea Caldarelli in P16 due to unfortunate collision just after Start
Round 6 of the All Japan SUPER FORMULA Championship Series, 2015 was staged on October 17th and the 18th at Sportsland SUGO, located just outside of Sendai city. For Andrea Caldarelli, as in the previous round at Autopolis, this track was another circuit where for his first time driving Dallara SF14. The undulation of 69.3m is one of the greatest features of this circuit, also filled with mid-speed and high-speed turns, plus track width also being tight, certainly makes SUGO a highly technical course.
October 17 (SAT) Official Qualifying
Leaves starting to color beautifully here at this circuit surrounded by forests, was blessed with gorgeous weather from early morning and the Free Practice (9:00 -10:00) began amid Dry condition (Air temp. 18 deg. C). 19 machines ran this session as checking into their machine settings. Andrea on LENOVO TEAM IMPUL SF14 (No. 20) drove 32 laps in this session with the best time of 1’06.282 and positioning 9th.
Soon it was 13:45, and 20 minutes of Q1 of the Knockdown style began. Condition was overall very fair with nice weather, temperature of 19 degrees Celsius and the track at 29 deg. C. In just 3 minutes however, the session was red-flagged (from 13:48 to 13:57) but soon resumed. And only a couple of minutes later, it was red-flagged again (from 13:59 to 14:04). Amid so, Andrea Caldarelli on No. 20 marked a P7 time of 1’05.948 taking the 7th place and all going well, advanced to Q2 competed by the top 14 cars. And though Andrea further improved his time to 1’05.838 in the Q2 (14:28 to 14:35), placed P10 from this session and finished his day before the Q3 heat.
Andrea Caldarelli
“Can’t say it was the best qualifying … I was able to step up from Q1 to the Q2, but in Q2, machine balance wasn’t bad, I just lacked speed. I will check with my team where the problem lies, and see what we can do for tomorrow’s race. It’s not going to be easy starting from the 10th grid, also on this circuit where overtaking chances are limited … but anything can happen when you race at SUGO, so let’s not give up and give our best till the end.”
October 17 (SUN) Race
Great weather continued also throughout Sunday, just like the day before, and Free Practice in the morning (09:05 to 09:35) began under 17 deg. C air temperature, 21 deg. C on track. No better conditions could be asked for.
Andrea Caldarelli on LENOVO TEAM IMPUL No. 20 was pleased with the machine setting that was wholly improved from Saturday, as marking 1’06.726, a P2 time of all 19 machines. The talented Italian driver on No. 20 was able to restore a good pace and rhythm!
Soon it was 14:30, time to start the Race. Under fair skies, air temperature of 21 deg. C, track at 31 deg. C, 68 laps of the race over this 3.7km course unfolded.
Andrea of LENOVO TEAM IMPUL No. 20 delivered a fine start from the In-side of the 5th row, but due to traffic on the 1st turn, collided with a machine going ahead. Damage inflicted on its front section brought No. 20 down to P12, but sticking to the 1 pit-stop strategy, Andrea nonetheless continued to push. However, the damage caused on the machine was not small, and therefore could not raise his pace. Position also dropped to P16 by the point of lap 8, and as finishing the 10th lap, LENOVO TEAM IMPUL could not help returning to the pit. After refueling and changing the front nose, the front tyres too, pit crew sent No. 20 back out to the track in P18. Andrea went forward pushing as rewriting self’s best time and by the 52nd lap position rose to P16, but still with effects of the accident in the 1st lap dragging through the entire race, Andrea Caldarelli not able to raise his positions much more, finished the race in P16.
Andrea Caldarelli
“Start went well, and as passing a few machines, I entered the first turn but there was heavy traffic. There losing space, I was struck by misfortune! It is really nobody’s fault but just that I was there and got unlucky. It is regrettable because the machine was fast and so perfectly tuned to do some real racing!”
The very last stage of SUPER FORMULA 2015, Round 7 will be at Suzuka Circuit on November 7th and the 8th.
Photos by TOSHIKAZU MORIYAMA
SUPER FORMULA Official Website
TEAM IMPUL Official Website
Andrea Caldarelli Official Website
