Iwasa “always targeting to win the championship” ahead of second half of Super Formula season

Credit: Super Formula

The reigning Super Formula drivers’ champion, Ayumu Iwasa, had set himself a bold goal of winning every race on the calendar. However, this time around, fortune did not favour his bravery, earning him only two podiums in the four races completed so far. 

With Kakunoshin Ohta pulling ahead with a solid 16 point lead in the standings, the recently held test sessions at the Fuji Speedway are going to be pivotal in his bid for the title.

Iwasa took the time for a short interview with DIVEBOMB Motorsport Magazine at the end of the first day of tests to give his thoughts on the tests and the season so far.

These test sessions were the last major tests until the season finale, and the data gathered is going to be pivotal; the extra experience at Fuji is also going to be important in getting the setup right and getting Iwasa acclimated for the five races remaining at the foothills of the iconic mountain.

However, progress was halted early for Iwasa as he reported a “strange feeling” in the car.

“I think it was a bit of a difficult day, because from the start of the day, I was feeling a bit of really strange behaviour in the car. So actually, we couldn't fix it through the day, and of course we tried quite a lot of things for that, but in the meantime we had a lot of things to test as planned. So it was really difficult, but unfortunately, we couldn't fix it completely.”

He likened it to an issue he had all the way back in round 1: “Actually, it's really quite a similar feeling to the Motegi race. I had an issue in one, but it's not exactly the same as that one, because even after they check the data, it still doesn't show clearly what is going on. So yeah, I think we need to see more details.”

Credit: Super Formula

He unfortunately couldn’t reveal the details of this “strange feeling,” but he did clarify that it was something fundamental with the car and not simply an issue with the setup.

“I cannot say the details about that strange feeling, but it's something like not a pure setup. We need to see the details from the data, and also I think they will check the car a little bit tonight. 

“But let's see, and if we see something and for sure we will try to improve it. But in the meantime, we need to do a lot of stuff tomorrow. But you know, Fuji is going to be really important as we have like five races on this track for the rest of the season. So yeah, I think as soon as possible we need to fix that strange situation, and we will try to improve the performance.”

We couldn’t have a word with him on day two of the tests to see if this “strange feeling” was resolved, but he was the slowest in the morning of day two and only 15th in the afternoon. However, his engineer, Tomo Koike, clarified that this was because of them doing only race simulations and said that he would’ve been third to fifth fastest otherwise.

Iwasa himself downplayed the importance of the lap times set during these tests: “To be honest, the test is a test. It's not deciding anything. So the most important thing is to prepare well enough for the proper race weekend. 

So I think what we need to do now is create a good baseline for Fuji, especially because even the race weekend in July and October will be completely different to today. So even if I'm really quick at this test, for sure it will change during the race weekend. So the most important thing is to create a good baseline.”

Credit: Super Formula

Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, Iwasa is unfazed by the 16 point gap to the leader of the championship: “I'm always targeting to win the championship. I will do my best, and the team will do their best. And you know, the result is coming after the race. 

“So, you know, we will do our best in the race weekend, and then let's see the result. I'm always top three in qualifying this season so far. And, you know, we won the championship last year. So it means that we have strength as a team, but we need to use it for the rest of the season.”

Iwasa then compared this season to last year, where he had a similar deficit to Ohta for the championship at roughly this point of the season and still managed to win the title: “I'm always having confidence and actually even more because last year my quality performance was a bit up and down. 

“But this season so far, we are really fast. But as you saw, we had a bit of an unlucky situation with the condition change and, you know, rain. But I think if we can improve a lot of small things, even more, then there will not be any problem.”

The Red Bull reserve driver is still targeting a Formula One seat with Red Bull and its sister team, Racing Bulls. If a seat is to open up at either of these teams, there are talented junior drivers like Nikola Tsolov who he has to compete with for the seat. 

Executive advisor at HRC, two-time Indy 500 winner and the man who gave Iwasa the chance to compete in the junior formulas, Takuma Sato has made it clear that a “step-up” is needed from Iwasa to get an ever so lucrative Formula One seat. The remaining races will decide both the championship and Iwasa’s future career.