Analysis
Super Formula Autopolis
How Miyata missed clear chance to beat Lawson at Autopolis
TOM’S driver Ritomo Miyata was in the thick of the fight for Super Formula victory for the second race in a row at Autopolis - but a strategy miscue arguably cost him a strong chance of beating eventual winner Liam Lawson.
Jamie Klein
Edited: May 23, 2023, 2:29 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Around 15 laps into the 41-lap race at the flowing Kyushu track, Lawson’s decision to pit early looked like it wasn’t going to pay dividends. With the majority of drivers opting to extend their first stints amid fears of heavy tyre degradation, the Mugen driver soon caught up to a pack of slower cars that prevented him from exploiting his new tyre advantage.
It looked like the race would be a straight battle between Miyata and poleman Sho Tsuboi, who had around five seconds in hand over Miyata when Lawson dived for the pits, but saw his advantage steadily eroded after that as he struggled for pace in his Inging machine.
Read Also:
- Oyu denies full blame for Sakaguchi clash at Autopolis
- Lawson not thinking about F1 rumours after latest Super Formula win
Indeed, at this stage it looked like Miyata was in a good position, as Lawson stopping gave him a five-second pocket of clean air ahead. With the Kiwi stuck behind the likes of Raoul Hyman and Cem Bolukbasi, Miyata was both gaining on leader Tsuboi and Lawson.
At the end of lap 15, Miyata trailed Tsuboi by 4.8s, with Lawson around 27s behind at this stage. Five laps later, Miyata had closed into within 3.2s of the lead, but crucially had got the margin over Lawson out to 30.9s - enough to make his stop and get out ahead.
The gap stayed at 30.9s for another lap as Lawson lost time trapped behind Kazuto Kotaka, but once he cleared the Kondo Racing man at the start of lap 21, he finally had clear air ahead of him. While Miyata continued to close in on Tsuboi, he was no longer gaining on Lawson, who started lapping around seven to eight tenths a lap faster.
The window for Miyata to stop and get ahead of Lawson was rapidly closing, and by the time Tsuboi bailed at the end of lap 25, the opportunity had already passed - Lawson was 27s behind and continued closing until the safety car was called on lap 30 following the collision between Sena Sakaguchi and Toshiki Oyu, prompting Miyata to finally come in.
Miyata resumed third and battled his way back ahead of Tsuboi at the restart on his fresher tyres, but couldn’t do anything about Lawson before the chequered flag. Post-race, the TOM’S driver acknowledged that he and his team had got the strategy wrong.
“In terms of the gap to Liam, and how close I really was to Tsuboi, during those laps I think we made a mistake with the decision [not to come in],” said Miyata in the post-race press conference. “We should have come in around that time.”
Ritomo Miyata, VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S
Photo by: Masahide Kamio
Of course, had Miyata come in around lap 22 or 23, then Tsuboi probably would have responded by pitting next time. But such was the power of the undercut at Autopolis that a one-lap delta may have been enough for Miyata to get the jump, just as Lawson did with Sakaguchi earlier in the race after being stuck behind the second Inging driver early on.
Lawson’s engineer Tomo Koike admitted post-race that bringing in the Red Bull junior on lap 13 was not planned from the start. Rather, it was a reaction to the pace of Tadasuke Makino, who had been the first of all to stop when the pit window opened on lap 10.
“Sena was slower, so we were held up by him, but I knew if we tried the undercut we could get stuck in traffic, so it was hard to make a call,” Koike told Motorsport.com’s Japanese edition post-race. “I was thinking that we would come in on lap 10 if Cerumo [Inging] didn’t come in then, but I was worried about the traffic so we changed tack.
“But Makino was suddenly really fast. We couldn’t allow Makino to undercut, so we decided at the last minute to come in [on lap 13]. It was a risk because we didn’t know how well the tyres would last. But he was able to manage them well and use the OTS perfectly.”
In the end, what brought Lawson back into contention was the fact he passed Hyman, Bolukbasi and Kotaka while sacrificing very little time to the leaders.
“I think what was really amazing about Liam’s performance was the way he managed the traffic on a track where you normally can’t overtake,” added Koike. “The efficiency of his overtaking, the ability to make passes without losing time… that’s his true strength.”
Additional reporting by Kenichiro Ebii
Podium
Photo by: Masahide Kamio
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 Oyu denies full blame for Sakaguchi clash at Autopolis
Next article Has Honda’s super-sub blown his best shot at redemption?
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
Ritomo Miyata
Will Colton Herta make it to Formula 1?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Will Colton Herta make it to Formula 1?
Conway, Miyata complete Vasser Sullivan’s Rolex 24 lineup
IMSA
IMSA
Conway, Miyata complete Vasser Sullivan’s Rolex 24 lineup
How Toyota's new Japanese star proved he's ready to go global
Super Formula
Super Formula
How Toyota's new Japanese star proved he's ready to go global
More from
TOM'S
Sho Tsuboi calls for Super Formula engine overhaul as Toyota “can’t properly compete with Honda”
Super Formula
Super Formula
Sugo
Sho Tsuboi calls for Super Formula engine overhaul as Toyota “can’t properly compete with Honda”
Super Formula champion Sho Tsuboi targets “dream” F1 test through Toyota’s Haas link
Formula 1
Formula 1
Austrian GP
Super Formula champion Sho Tsuboi targets “dream” F1 test through Toyota’s Haas link
Super Formula Fuji: Tsuboi snatches points lead with back-to-back wins
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Tsuboi snatches points lead with back-to-back wins
Latest news
Carson Hocevar says Zane Smith feud is "pretty one-sided"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
Carson Hocevar says Zane Smith feud is "pretty one-sided"
Jack Miller says Australian GP cancellation “tough to swallow”: “It is pissing me off”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
27 min
Jack Miller says Australian GP cancellation “tough to swallow”: “It is pissing me off”
Max Verstappen reacts to COTA boss: "He can drive my car, after five laps he won't be able to walk"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
41 min
Max Verstappen reacts to COTA boss: "He can drive my car, after five laps he won't be able to walk"
Sammy Smith just pulled off a rare Talladega feat not seen in over twenty years
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Talladega II
1 h
Sammy Smith just pulled off a rare Talladega feat not seen in over twenty years
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