Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia

Matsushita takes blame for heartbreaking Suzuka penalty

Nobuharu Matsushita has shouldered the blame for the penalty that cost him and his B-Max Racing Team a shot at their first Super Formula win at Suzuka.

Watch: Round 7: Suzuka II Highlights

After securing pole position on Saturday, Matsushita made a clean getaway and led the early stages of the 30-lap season finale, only to be handed a drive-through penalty for a start infraction.

The ex-Formula 2 racer dropped to the rear of the field as a result and could only recover to 12th place at the finish.

Matsushita shouldered the blame for squandering an opportunity to conclude the season with a victory, but said he didn’t realise he had done anything wrong until news of the penalty emerged.

“It’s downhill into Turn 1, so I released the brake [slightly] before the start,” Matsushita explained to Motorsport.com. “I was slowly moving and they gave me the drive-through penalty for that. 

“It was my fault. I didn’t know [the penalty] was coming], I just moved by less than 5cm, and before lights out, I stopped again, and they got me for that.”

Asked if he felt he had the pace to win the race, which eventually went to Dandelion driver Nirei Fukuzumi, Matsushita said: “I was not the quickest car, but at this track it’s not that easy to overtake. 

“It’s a real shame. I could have been P2 or P3 in the championship [with a win]. But it is what it is, can’t change it.”

Matsushita was participating in his first full season since 2018 for B-Max after contesting the latter part of the 2020 campaign for the one-car squad, albeit missing the Fuji season opener owing to a dispute with engine supplier Honda.

He scored two podium finishes at Autopolis and Motegi, with the Suzuka finale marking his first non-score since the second round of the season at the same track - leaving him eighth in the final standings.

While uncertain about his 2022 plans, Matsushita says his performance this weekend has given him the confidence to mount a title assault if Honda keeps him on.

“I am ready to fight for the championship next year,” said Matsushita. “If I am here, I definitely feel we can go for it. So let’s see what Honda says about next year.”

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Suzuka Super Formula: Fukuzumi passes Nojiri to win finale
Next article Hirakawa rues Suzuka strategy after concluding winless season

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia