SGC by KCMG claimed two podiums in Japanese Formula 3’s 6th event at Sportsland Sugo last weekend as drivers Gary Thompson and Matt Howson pulled out all the stops to challenge for championship points in wet and dry conditions.
Sugo offered changeable weather throughout the entire race weekend, with the team finding themselves testing on a wet circuit last Friday. Thompson and Howson handed over concrete results, with the young Dubliner securing 2nd and his British teammate taking 5thposition.
Maximizing the power of the newly-modified cars, the drivers had a strong first qualifying session – with Thompson securing 3rd and Howson locking 5th place. The second qualifying session saw Thompson dropping one spot down the grid and Howson maintaining his 5th place start for Race 2.
During Race 1, Thompson lost his position after a slow start but fought back to 3rd place on Lap 1 and consistently drove, capping the first race with another podium. Meanwhile, Howson finished 5th after attempts to secure a position further towards the front.
The team arrived at the Sugo circuit the following day with a mindset to prevail in Races 2 and 3. Unfortunately, the morning race ended prematurely for Thompson as he went off track on Lap 6 and went into the barrier at one of the fastest corners on the circuit.
Howson, on the other hand, was driving well and was challenging Hiramine for 3rd position before stumbling in to an error which cost him a chance to gain a podium.
The afternoon race was a different story for the optimistic Brit despite difficult conditions and the tremendous rain which affected visibility on the circuit. Howson escaped first corner carnage and ran competitively until the end of the Race 3, taking his 2nd podium of the season.
After his inopportune crash during Race 2, Thompson finished 4th after carrying out great efforts to rebound in the afternoon race. The Irish racer had a tough time getting further up front as he was delayed at Turn 1 after a car ahead spun off track.
Howson reflects on the past race weekend, He ruminates, “Sugo was one of the most mixed-weather weekends I can remember! We wanted more dry running with my F308, but it allowed us to work on wet setup. Qualifying was good in the sense we were very close to the pace if only 5th place. The KCMG team came up with an excellent strategy and I had a tire advantage, and we tried some new aero parts with both working extremely well. It’s great to be back on the podium, awesome job by my team as usual, no car problems all weekend! Flying finish at Fuji next!”
Thompson was dissatisfied with the conclusion of his Sugo outing as he had his eyes set on delivering stronger results. He states, “We started the weekend very fast on Friday in both wet and dry conditions.Despite making a bad start in Race 1, I was able to fight back into 3rd on the first lap and kept the gap to the leaders the same while also maintaining a gap behind. It’s very hard to overtake in Sugo so I couldn’t do anything more. Race 2 is where the weekend started to go wrong! I jumped the start and was challenging for 2nd place over the first few laps before I crashed and went off the circuit. The team did a great job to get the car repaired for Race 3 and despite losing a few places off the line, our pace was strong and I was able to catch the drivers ahead. We had big problems during the middle of the race when it was raining hard which caused aquaplaning. It’s a disappointing result after how hard the team worked to fix my car. I don’t think I did the best job yesterday either! We look forward to Fuji now.”
KCMG Japan General Manager Ryuji Doi was rational over the Sugo weekend. He states, “The cars are now performing remarkably well but we know that there are still areas for improvement. Even at this stage, the team has not stopped working to develop the cars to help both Gary and Matt to accomplish their goals- which is to succeed and win races. We have one final race ahead in Fuji and we are preparing well for that last, vital challenge.”
The final event of Japanese Formula 3 shall take place at Fuji Speedway on October 13-14.
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