F3
Japan: Alexandre Imperatori Aida event report
Promising Aida weekend tarnished by mystery handling issue A mysterious handling problem blighted what should have been a positive event for Alexandre Imperatori last weekend when the Japanese F3 Championship visited Okayama for rounds 11 and ...
Edited: Sep 6, 2010, 2:34 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Promising Aida weekend tarnished by mystery handling issue
A mysterious handling problem blighted what should have been a positive event for Alexandre Imperatori last weekend when the Japanese F3 Championship visited Okayama for rounds 11 and 12.
The former Pacific Grand Prix venue is something of a home circuit for Imperatori's Toda Fightex squad, although local knowledge this time proved less than beneficial.
Friday's pair of 90-minute free practice sessions initially promised much with the Swiss driver ever-present at the top of the timesheets despite running used tyres. The switch to fresh rubber however proved less constructive and the team were unable to find a suitable set-up ahead of Saturday's qualifying.
Hence, the 24-year-old lined up only ninth for the weekend's opening 18-lap race. But a lightening getaway catapulted him forward three spots, before eventually climbing one-further position to finish a creditable fifth.
With no recurrence of the problems which had compromised his previous day's qualifying, Imperatori lined up for race two on Sunday morning with renewed confidence, albeit starting eighth.
And at first he was again in inspired form, climbing through the field in the early stages of the 25-lap race.
But it wasn't long before the tyres on his Dallara-Honda began to severely deteriorate, leaving Imperatori powerless to protect his hard-earned progress. He eventually finished sixth, still two places higher than where he started.
"It was a really strange weekend," said Imperatori. "We tested at Okayama before this event and were able to set times faster than (championship leaders) Tom's. Then when we got here, after an encouraging first practice, the new tyres just didn't work and that compromised our entire weekend. We believe the handling issues are the result of something else however which we haven't been able to pinpoint yet. It could be a monocoque problem as the car is not reacting well to any setup changes. The stifling heat this weekend could also have been a factor."
Rounds 13 and 14 of the Japanese F3 championship come from Sugo in three weeks time (September 25/26) where the combination of long straights and fast, as well as technical corners, will demand a well balanced car.
"We'll test again ahead of the next race to try and find the problem," he added. "Sugo is a track of two halves, the first being very twisty and the second quite fast and flowing. Setting up a car for those sorts of conditions tends to be a compromise between good grip and low drag, so it's really important we sort the car, and tyres, in time for then."
-source: www.alexandreimperatori.com
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Italy: Matt Lee Verano event summary
Next article AUS: Series Eastern Creek preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Alexandre Imperatori
De Oliveira replaces Jarvis in Nissan Bathurst line-up
Endurance
Endurance
De Oliveira replaces Jarvis in Nissan Bathurst line-up
G-Drive agrees to amend controversial ELMS line-up
European Le Mans
European Le Mans
G-Drive agrees to amend controversial ELMS line-up
Grove Porsche locks down international line-up for Bathurst
Endurance
Endurance
Grove Porsche locks down international line-up for Bathurst
Latest news
Aprilia: “Marco Bezzecchi couldn’t avoid the collision; Marc Marquez moved in on him"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
20 min
Aprilia: “Marco Bezzecchi couldn’t avoid the collision; Marc Marquez moved in on him"
How the Racing Bulls pendulum is swinging back towards undeniable Liam Lawson
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 h
How the Racing Bulls pendulum is swinging back towards undeniable Liam Lawson
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 h
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe