This season Rookie of the Year was definitely with TEAM GOH, but was yet to be decided between Sato and Miyake.   The result would be carried over to the final round, although Sato’s third place in Round 9 gave him 11 points taking his points tally to 25 for the season.  It meant that in round 10 Miyake was trailing Sato by 7 points giving Ren Sato the Rookie of the Year title.

The final two rounds, 9 and 10, of the 2022 All-Japan Super Formula Championship were held on Saturday and Sunday, 29^th and 30^th October, at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.

In the tenth and final round of the season on Sunday the mission was to get the No. 55 car through Q1 so dynamic changes were made to the car’s set-up.  As as result Miyake secured 8^th place on the grid, but it turned into a defensive race and he was unable to increase his previous day’s pace.

Miyake was able to defend his 8^th position and finished his first Super Formula season with three points.

Atsushi Miyake, #55 Driver

“On Saturday night we worked hard to solve the issues we had before the final race on Sunday.  Having reviewed everything, including my driving, with the team I was able to get through Q1 as I wanted to start at the front for the final race in Round 10 on Sunday.  I made it to Q2 and would start the race from eighth, not as far ahead as I wanted to be, but better than yesterday.  Having had a bad start in my last few races I had an idea regarding the cause, so last night the mechanics had a late night reviewing and checking all the data, the clutch, etc., so we got off to quite a good start.  However, when it came to the race I had difficulty driving well, which was the complete opposite to yesterday; my plan had been to move forward from my 8^th place, but I finished up having to defend”

“Makino was chasing me towards the end of the race, but, assisted by the radio information from the team and by using the OTS, I was able to defend well.  I think I’ve made progress in these areas from the experience I’ve gained throughout the season.  I would like to thank all those involved with us this season and all the fans who have supported us.”

Masashi Yamamoto, Team Director

“Qualifying for Miyake had been an issue so we made some radical changes to the set-up for Round 10.  It all turned out to be positive and Miyake progressed through Q1 to qualify eigth.  For Round 10 we made further changes for the race from the previous days’ set-up, but the direction we chose didn’t work as we ended up with bad understeer on the front and low drivability.  I felt really sorry for the driver.

But Miyake managed to hold on despite these problems finishing in 8^th place and scoring some points so I was happy for him and his team.  We want to build a better team for next year which means we still have a lot of work to do.”

Shintaro Okajima, #55 Engineer

“Our mission for Round 10 qualifying was to make sure we could get the car through Q1, and Miyake drove well so we progressed to Q2 and started the race from 8^th position which is within the points.  I believe that overall our qualifying session was as an improvement on the previous day’s Round 9.  However, there were issues with the car’s set-up for the race and I regret we were unable to improve our 8^th place starting position due to a drop in performance on the base set-up used for Saturday’s race.”

“Strategically the only option we had was to make an early pit stop.  I think if the car’s performance had been a little higher we could have adopted a different strategy.  Next season the car will be different, so at the moment I don’t know whether we will be able to utilise any of our experience from this year, but I hope we can build a better future.”

The final two rounds, 9 and 10, of the 2022 All-Japan Super Formula Championship were held on Saturday and Sunday, 29^th and 30^th October, at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.

In Round 10 the following day, Sunday, 30^th, unfortunately Sato missed out on getting through Q1 and had to start the race from 14^th.  After two Safety Car restarts he lost positions and was only able to finish the race in 19^th position.  However, he finished his Rookie year setting the fastest race lap in a time of 1:39.362.

Ren Sato, #53 Driver

“Unfortunately I was unable to make it past Q1 qualifying in Sunday’s Round 10 and had to start the race from 14^th position.

After the first Safety Car I spun on the opening lap and dropped to the back of the grid.  Then after the second Safety Car I was catching up, but as I battled through the traffic I damaged my front wing which prevented me from winning the race.

I was able to take the fastest race lap and I think I could have done more, but my poor race set-up remains an issue.

I have learned a lot in my first season in Super Formula and I would like to thank everyone involved and all the fans who supported me.”

Masashi Yamamoto, Team Director

“Ren’s race on Saturday was great, especially finishing on the podium in third place.  Since Round 10 on Sunday was the final race we decided to go a little aggressive for qualifying, but Ren fishished 7^th in Q1 so was unable to progress to Q2.  Consequently Ren had to start the race from 14^th position and wasn’t able to improve his pace during the race.

I thought it was lucky when the Safety Car came out on the first lap of the race, but when the lights went green Ren spun ending up at the back of the grid.  Ren then drove at a pace comparable to the leaders, but after a second Safety Car restart he tried overtaking the car in front and hit it which damaged his front wing and forced him to pit for a second time.

Despite then having to run at the back of the field with no real opportunity to progress further forward, Ren’s pace was good and he was able to set the fastest lap.  It had turned into a disappointing race for everyone, but the team had found a good setting which I believe we can take into the future.”

Ryan Dingle, #53 Engineer

“Based on the previous day’s data we made adjustments for qualifying in Round 10 and we were quite happy with them, but we came up short on lap time to get through to Q1.  Using the previous day’s race set-up we felt we were starting from a good base, but on Sunday the conditions were different so we made adjustments which gave us good pace.  But starting from 14^th on the grid may have put pressure on the driver making him try too hard which ultimately would lead to small mistakes and some risk management which I believe was unfortunate.

Ren showed he was definitely fast enough and I’m happy he won Rookie of the Year, but honestly, I wish he’d finished a bit higher, so we’ll work on that in the future.”

The final two rounds, 9 and 10, of the 2022 All-Japan Super Formula Championship were held on Saturday and Sunday, 29^th and 30^th October, at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.

In Round 9, the No. 55 car of Atsushi Miyake was starting from 14^th on the grid having failed to make it to Q2, but his race pace was good and he set the fastest time on lap 12.  However, unable to progress through the heavy traffic, he finished 12^th missing out on any points.

Atsushi Miyake, #55 Driver

“Being stuck at the back of the grid made qualifying tough for Saturday’s 9^th Round, but my start didn’t go well either following the previous round at Motegi.  I lost positions and wanted to find the reason in order to be ready for the final round the following day.  After that the car was good, and even though I was running in traffic I was able to record the fastest lap after the pit stop, so I had the feeling that if I could do well in qualifying and secure a front grid position I would have the potential to aim for a podium finish or even a win.”

Masashi Yamamoto, Team Director

“In Round 9 Miyake in the No. 55 car was only about 1/100^th of a second short in Q1 which meant he was unable to progress to Q2 and would have to start from 14^th position.  Despite setting the fastest lap time Miyake was caught up in traffic and was unable to use his pace to progress so he had a tough race.”

Shintaro Okajima, #55 Engineer

“Unfortunately Miyake missed out on not getting through Q1 by just 1/100^th of a second in the  Round 9 Qualifying session which meant we needed to work more on the set-up.  I also think we had some issues with Miyake’s driving so it was necessary for us to work together on those areas.  Compared to the leaders there was also a big gap in performance so it was necessary to have a major review of the qualifying set-up in parparation for the final round the next day.  We stumbled at the start of the race in Round 9, but on the whole I think our race performance was pretty good.

Our strategy was to pit after 10 laps to get the undercut, but it became impossible to regain our position on track as Miyake was unable to increase his pace in the latter half of the race due to all the traffic ahead of him.  It quickly became clear I would have to reconsider my strategy for Round 10.  I felt the car’s set-up would give us good performance, and in fact we were able to set the fastest lap times.  So we then looked at how we could maximise the good parts of the race set-up for the Sunday’s qualifying.”

The final two rounds, 9 and 10, of the 2022 All-Japan Super Formula Championship were held on Saturday and Sunday, 29^th and 30^th October, at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.

Both qualifying and the final of Round 9 were held on Saturday, 29^th, with Ren Sato driving TEAM GOH’s No. 53 car.  Starting from 9^th on the grid he went on to achieve his first podium in Super Formula with a 3^rd place finish.

Ren Sato, #53 Driver

“I started from ninth position in Round 9 and overtook a car at the start, then another on the next lap and eventually took my first podium by finishing third.  I want to thank the team for giving me a great car and for the regular radio updates throughout the race.

I have driven Suzuka circuit in the SRS programme so as a Rookie I knew exactly where I could overtake and make the moves I needed to without any hesitation on the more Senior drivers.”

Masashi Yamamoto, Team Director

“I was really happy seeing Ren Sato in the No. 53 car take his first podium on Saturday.  In qualifying his time in Q1 was good, but unfortunately it didn’t improve enough in Q2 which meant he had to start the race from ninth position.  I felt very strongly we had to do everything we could to help Ren set a good time in Q2 in order to start further forward on the grid in Round 10 on Sunday.  We found a good car set-up for the race in Round 9 and both the drivers did a really good job.  I think the first two laps at the start of the race decided the final outcome of Round 9.  Ren managed to improve his position and congratulations to him on his first podium.”

Ryan Dingle, #53 Engineer

“Our position in Friday’s Free Practice left a lot to be desired, but generally the car’s performance was good and we were able to resolve the issues before qualifying for Round 9, but we still had work to do.  The race performance was high, not only due to the car’s set-up, but also because the driver worked very hard both in preparation and putting more effort into driving adjustments.  All the efforts of the driver and the team finally paid off and we were able to achieve a result.  But we couldn’t be satisfied with third place and we were determined to do even better in the following day’s final race of the season, our aim being to take a victory.”

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