The introduction of the Dallara SF19, upon which the brand new SF23 is predicated, heralded a serious shake-up within the aggressive order. The highest three groups from the earlier 12 months – Kondo Racing, Mugen and Inging – all struggled, the primary two-named not helped by the lack of their respective star drivers Nick Cassidy and Naoki Yamamoto.
Whereas TOM’S was boosted by the arrival of Cassidy and Dandelion Racing likewise by Yamamoto, there was one other group that shot up the rankings – Nakajima Racing, which discovered itself again within the winners’ circle after a painful nine-year drought.
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For context, Satoru Nakajima’s eponymous outfit was one among Tremendous Method’s powerhouse groups within the late Nineties and all by means of the 2000s, taking Tom Coronel, Tora Takagi, Ralph Firman and Loic Duval to title glory. However 2011 marked the group’s first winless season since 2003 and the beginning of a droop that continued throughout the SF14 period.
In 2018, drivers Takuya Izawa and Narain Karthikeyan mustered simply eight factors between them – courtesy of a fifth place every – leaving Nakajima eighth within the groups’ rating.
Nakajima was struggling in direction of the again of the sector within the ultimate 12 months of the SF14 period
The next 12 months nonetheless, the arrival of two proficient kids within the type of Alex Palou and Tadasuke Makino, mixed with the reset supplied by the SF19, allowed the group to return inside a whisker of its first title since Duval’s triumph a full decade earlier.
Altering drivers after all performed a task within the turnaround, and subsequent historical past has confirmed particularly how good Palou is. However in line with now-Mugen engineer Tomo Koike, who was working as a knowledge engineer for Nakajima on the time, the position of veteran engineer Jun Okada, a mainstay of the Nakajima steady, and Izawa are to not be ignored.
“I bear in mind we had take a look at with the brand new SF19 at Motegi in 2018 [in late August] with Okada-san’s set-up, which was essential,” Koike says. “He has been working in Tremendous Method for greater than 20 years, and his expertise was very useful.
“He got here up with the preliminary set-ups within the Motegi take a look at, and it was Izawa who was driving, which was additionally necessary. Izawa’s skill to arrange a automobile is wonderful, like [Tomoki] Nojiri.”
Izawa in the course of the SF19 growth take a look at at Motegi
Picture by: JRP
Such was Izawa’s contribution, in line with Koike, he might have been able to combat for wins too in 2019 had he been in a position to stick with the group for a second 12 months.
“The disappointing factor is that he joined in 2018 and solely drove for that season, so he wasn’t in a position to get any good outcomes,” provides Koike. “But when he had pushed in 2019, he would have had significantly better outcomes, like Alex.”
Requested to provide a tough estimation of how a lot of the group’s progress will be credited to the arrival of Palou and Makino, Koike replies: “I might say it was 50 p.c the drivers. If Alex drove for one more group, perhaps his contribution would have been 70 p.c.
“After all he’s a improbable driver, however he was additionally good when it got here to engaged on the set-up. Some set-up ideas that we didn’t perceive correctly, he had utilized in Europe. Having that info from exterior of Japan was additionally helpful for establishing the SF19.”
Palou’s velocity in testing meant Nakajima knew they had been on to factor in 2019
Palou laid down a marker with the quickest time in pre-season testing at Suzuka, that means confidence inside Nakajima was excessive going into the opening spherical on the similar observe. However come qualifying it was Makino who stole the present, pipping Palou by 0.029 seconds to take a shock debut pole – which nonetheless stands as his solely Tremendous Method pole 4 years later.
The next day nonetheless, the group returned to earth with a bump. Having briefly misplaced after which regained second, Palou was slapped with a drive-through penalty early on as a result of a begin process infraction, leaving Makino alone on the head of the sector. However an early security automobile interval ruined his technique of beginning on comfortable tyres, successfully forcing him to pit in the course of the intervention and run a lot of the race on the considerably slower medium tyre.
Makino discovered himself relegated to fourth by the point he suffered a right-rear wheel failure exiting Spoon that pitched him into the obstacles. By this time, Palou had dropped out of the working with a lack of drive, however his victory hopes had already been severely broken by the security automobile ruining the comfortable tyre starters’ methods – conversely serving to TOM’S man Cassidy to victory.
Regardless of the frustration of Suzuka, Palou didn’t have to attend too lengthy for his first victory, which got here in torrential circumstances at Fuji three months later. That observe was additionally the scene of his first of three poles, the final of which got here within the season finale at Suzuka – the place a unfastened cooling tube denied him a transparent shot at changing into a rookie champion.
Palou was unfortunate to overlook out on the title in his rookie season
Palou was third within the ultimate standings behind Cassidy and Yamamoto, however Makino’s struggles later within the 12 months meant Nakajima completed a distant third within the groups’ standings behind Dandelion and TOM’S. Whereas declaring that Makino was the sufferer of a number of mechanical points, Koike believes that his choice for understeer held him again.
“His driving fashion was not that properly suited to the Nakajima Racing set-up,” says Koike of Makino. “This was clear in 2020 when Toshiki Oyu joined the group and was sooner. Tadasuke likes rear stability, however Toshiki is extra like Alex within the sense of having the ability to adapt to oversteer. To make extra rotation is essential with the SF19 in comparison with the SF14, so the driving force has to adapt to oversteer.”
Nakajima hasn’t fairly maintained the blistering kind with which it opened the SF19 period, not helped by Koike’s departure to Mugen – which helped Tomoki Nojiri discover the one-lap tempo wanted to go from fringe contender to the championship’s dominant drive.
However the arrival of the SF23 this season gives one other beneficial likelihood for groups like Nakajima to make progress, and a change within the aggressive order as dramatic because the one we noticed 2019 appears potential.
TOM’S gained the primary race of the SF19 period, however who will get off to the very best begin this time spherical?
