The second official test of the 2022 Super Formula Championship was held at Fuji Speedway over two days from 22nd to 23rd March. The venue, which hosts the opening round of the season, has many different characteristics to the previous test at Suzuka circuit.

Day 1 began cold and wet. Due to the very wet conditions at the start of Session 1 many cars opted not to run. However, Miyake, in car no. 55, joined the track at the 10.10am start time and turned a series of cautious laps through the standing water, but conditions worsened as the rain turned to sleet. After six laps Miyake returned to the pit and the team spent the remainder of the day practising tyre changes and pit work.

When sleet turned to snow on the afternoon of the first day, Session 2 was cancelled. However, on Day 2, 23rd March, the weather had cleared at Fuji Speedway.

Sessions 3 and 4 on Day 2 saw some good testing in preparation for the season opener with many short and long runs, race simulations, as well as other tests, being completed – none of which had been able to take place on Day 1 due to the very short amount of time on track.

The position and best time overall was 14th with a time of 1:21.799

Atsushi Miyake, Driver, #55
“On Day 1 track conditions were so bad I could not drive at all. I did six laps, but my sole concentration was spent trying not to spin out. Today, Day 2, we practised qualifying in the morning and long runs in the afternoon in preparation for the race. Because we were unable to run yesterday the mechanics worked hard on various simulations to give me the best opportunity in the short time available. This allowed me to see what was still needed and to clarify the issues we had to solve before the opening race. It was my first time at Fuji in a Super Formula car, but I was able to produce a time not too far behind the leaders in the long runs. Please continue to give me your support.”

Masashi Yamamoto, Team Director
“In the morning Miyake’s car, No. 55, struggled a little with set-up, but he was able to run good times in Sector 3, which is generally said to be difficult at Fuji, so I am hoping we can successfully correlate this with the good data from Ren’s no. 53 car. We were also able to have good pace in the afternoon’s long run so we can identify and solve any further issues and look forward to the start of the season. I am sure we will be able to have a good race.”

Shintaro Okajima, Engineer, #55
“Yesterday, on Day 1, we began, but due to the rain we were forced to stop which enabled us to practice team and pit work instead. On Day 2 with the set-ups we had prepared, the performance was only fair, so we tried several test options and came up with some good and bad points, but overall I think we improved a lot compared to the Suzuka test.

We also ran simulations on pit operations and now we will go away and hold more team meetings so that we can focus on our responsibilities and improve our overall performance in readiness for the start of the season.”