“Everybody is beatable”: Sacha Fenestraz on taking the fight to Honda, his expectations for Suzuka and more

Credit: Super Formula

Sacha Fenestraz is currently driving for Team TOM’S in Super Formula. This is the Argentine’s fourth season in Super Formula, and the second since returning to the series after a two-year stint in Formula E for Nissan. Fenestraz spoke with us at DIVEBOMB after the two free practice sessions for rounds 4 and 5 at the Suzuka Circuit.

Last year, the five races at Suzuka did not go his way, with him scoring points in only one of them. Fenestraz talked about how things have changed since then and why he’s feeling a lot more confident heading into this race weekend, especially in relation to the other Team TOM’S car, the No.36 driven by Sho Tsuboi.

“End of last year, beginning of this year, we went a complete different direction on the car setup, car behaviour and so on. I seem to be a lot more comfortable with it. We're quicker. I'm quite confident that the changes we've improved until now. And also at the end of last year, we've been most of the weekends quicker than the 36.

“After the 37 having, for the last four or five years, a very difficult time. The target for us is to be in front of the 36. We've been managing to do so already round two last year, but also at the end of last year and already this season... So, we're quite confident of the direction we're taking. Of course, every weekend, it might not be the best, but the important thing is to be consistently there.”

Last year’s Suzuka struggles were not an issue endemic to Fenestraz, however, as most teams running the Toyota engines tend to struggle at Suzuka against the Hondas. However, this season, the gap between the two rivals has shrunk. 

At the only full-length race held this year, the one held at Motegi, which, similar to Suzuka, is a circuit that has historically favoured the Honda cars, seven of the top ten finishers were Toyota-powered.

“I think we can [compete with Honda]. Everybody is beatable. Nobody is unbeatable. But, I mean, the reality is, in qualifying, it's true that the Honda managed to put that extra power that we are not managing yet.

“So, let's see tomorrow. I don't want to make any guesses, but I think Honda looks very strong for another good result in qualifying. The race is always very different, especially for them.”

Credit: Super Formula

This weekend comes after a difficult performance in the opening two rounds for Team TOM’S, with the only race-winning Toyota team in the last three years scoring just 3.5 points, 2.5 of which come from Fenestraz. Fenestraz laid out why this weekend is important and took us back through what happened at round two at Motegi.

“It's quite an important weekend. It’s a double header. It's always important to score some important points. The reality is that this season we've been quite unfortunate with the weather, with only one real race that happened. 

“Unfortunately, in the pit stop, the mechanic didn't really tie the wheel, and we had to DNF the race, but we were on to a podium or a P4, so we had the potential to do a good race, but unfortunately, that didn't really happen. We're hoping for a good weekend…Important points this weekend is definitely our number one priority, and we're hoping to do that tomorrow and the day after. 

“But first, of course, qualifying, it's very important here in Suzuka to be at the front. Actually, it has been difficult. That's the reality. We've been struggling a little bit, but let's see if we can turn things around tomorrow in qualifying”

Across the practice sessions, the drivers seemed to struggle in sector four in their push laps, something that fellow Super Formula driver Igor Fraga attributed to strong winds. Fenestraz also gave us his thoughts on the matter.

“Yeah, the wind was an issue, much more in FP1 than in FP2. In FP2, I made a mistake in the last chicane. So [the wind is] not really relevant. I think without that mistake, we would have been, I'm not saying in the front, but I think top seven, eight, definitely. The idea is to replicate the whole lap until the last corner and then do a better last corner.”

Credit: Super Formula

After this weekend, there are the crucial Mid-Season Tests at Fuji to be held in June. Fenestraz is looking forward to the tests and says there are a lot of improvements to be made.

“We already know our problems, our limitations with the car, and we're ready to try many different types of setups in the test. And that's what test is for, trying so many different things. 

“That's what we did last year. So I'm kind of looking forward to that because we have already quite a nice, big list of things that we want to try to improve, certain things that we've seen already this season. 

The list might get a bit bigger after this weekend because we're struggling with some things that we're struggling to find solutions with. That's what the test is made for, and we're ready to drive a lot and test a lot of things.”

This weekend is a double header. Tomorrow, qualifying takes place at 9:15 AM JST and the race at 2:45 PM JST. On Sunday, qualifying starts at 10:25 AM JST and the race at 2:45 PM JST.