Super Formula Motegi
Hirakawa reveals leaking visor caused Motegi spins
Ryo Hirakawa has revealed that water getting inside his visor caused him to spin off during Saturday's Super Formula race at Motegi.
Jamie Klein Kenichiro Ebii
Published: Aug 20, 2022, 10:10 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Impul Toyota driver Hirakawa started the seventh round of the season from 13th on the grid, but was already inside the points range within a handful of laps as he gained ground in the wet conditions.
But an off-track excursion at Turn 4 dropped Hirakawa back down to 12th on lap 7 of 37, before his race came to a premature end on lap 26 as he spun at the final sequence of corners and got beached in the gravel.
- Watch all Super Formula races live on Motorsport.tv (available worldwide except Japan). Click here for more information.
Speaking post-race, Hirakawa said he thinks that he simply aquaplaned on standing water that he was unable to see properly due to the water leaking into his visor from the early stages.
"It happened on about the third or fourth lap," Hirakawa recalled. "I tore a strip from my visor, and I couldn’t see anything. Basically, it was already hard to see [through the spray] but it got even worse.
"The visor contains a heated wire to stop it from fogging up, but after a few times using it, the heat deforms the visor and creates a small gap, and then water gets inside. It meant I couldn’t see any of the rivers or standing water on the track.
"I think I spun on one of the rivers. It was quite scary while driving because I couldn’t see, so I’m glad I didn’t have a big crash."
Read Also:
Hirakawa's latest non-score leaves his title hopes hanging by a thread, with 40 points now separating he and third-place finisher Tomoki Nojiri.
But after another difficult qualifying session in which he was eliminated in Q1, Hirakawa says his focus is simply on regaining his mojo during Sunday's second race of the Motegi double-header weekend.
"I’m not thinking about the title now as I’m out of my rhythm, so tomorrow [Sunday] I want to do a proper attack lap in qualifying, although I doubt the position will change much," he said.
"There was no grip at the rear [in qualifying on new tyres]. Even if I had made it into Q2, I don’t think I would have started that much higher on the grid. But on Friday [in free practice] we were in good shape, so we'll compare the data from that day and do our best to come back."
Fenestraz didn't want to risk P2
Hirakawa's place as Nojiri's nearest challenger in the drivers' standings has been taken over by Sacha Fenestraz, who started and finished second behind race winner Naoki Yamamoto.
Kondo Racing man Fenestraz now trails by 30 points with three races remaining after finishing one place ahead of Nojiri.
Reporting similar visor issues to Hirakawa, Fenestraz decided against risking everything to try and pass Yamamoto and said he was pleased to narrow the gap to championship leader Nojiri.
"There wasn’t a lot of action, I just stayed in P2 for the whole race, but on lap 10 I lost about three seconds as I locked up and went off on the grass," reflected Fenestraz. "I was very close to going in the gravel, so I was a little bit lucky there.
"I couldn’t see anything when I was close to Naoki. Hirakawa had the same problem, but there was a lot of water getting inside the visor and we couldn’t see anything. I just tried to stay calm, stay on track and score those important points for the championship.
"I was pushing a lot to win, even after the safety car restart, but then I thought I shouldn’t take too much risk."
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 Motegi Super Formula: Yamamoto holds off Fenestraz for victory
Next article Yamamoto: Winning so easily "strange" after struggles
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jamie Klein
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
More from
Ryo Hirakawa
Oscar Piastri among drivers skipping FP1 as rookies join F1 Hungary weekend
Formula 1
Formula 1
Belgian GP
Oscar Piastri among drivers skipping FP1 as rookies join F1 Hungary weekend
All nine F1 rookies taking part in Mexico GP FP1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
All nine F1 rookies taking part in Mexico GP FP1
Toyota drivers predict faster lap times and “plenty of fighting” ahead at Le Mans
WEC
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Toyota drivers predict faster lap times and “plenty of fighting” ahead at Le Mans
More from
Impul
De Vries "open" to full-time Super Formula future
Super Formula
Super Formula
Motegi
De Vries "open" to full-time Super Formula future
De Vries to make Super Formula debut with Toyota squad
Super Formula
Super Formula
De Vries to make Super Formula debut with Toyota squad
Barnicoat replaces IndyCar-bound Pourchaire at Autopolis Super Formula round
Super Formula
Super Formula
Autopolis
Barnicoat replaces IndyCar-bound Pourchaire at Autopolis Super Formula round
Latest news
Gabriel Bortoleto on Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar's F1 success: 'Let's see where we are in 20 years'
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
6 min
Gabriel Bortoleto on Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar's F1 success: 'Let's see where we are in 20 years'
Nicki Thiim's cheeky F1 jab: "Max Verstappen just wants to drive a proper race car!"
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 9 min
Nicki Thiim's cheeky F1 jab: "Max Verstappen just wants to drive a proper race car!"
MotoGP riders say 850cc bikes will be less physical and more fun to ride
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
39 min
MotoGP riders say 850cc bikes will be less physical and more fun to ride
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