Suzuka Circuit welcomed a massive crowd under glorious blue skies for the opening round of the 2019 All Japan Super Formula Championship, sharing the bill with motorcycle racing for the traditional 2&4 event. With the air sitting at 21℃ and the tarmac at 29℃, the one-hour morning session gave teams their first proper chance to dial in setups before qualifying. Unsurprisingly, the hour culminated in a flurry of time-attack simulations on soft compound rubber carried over from testing, where No.3 Kenta Yamashita (KONDO RACING) laid down the benchmark to top the timesheets.
The action kicked off immediately with a queue at the pit exit as Yamashita and teammate No.4 Yuji Kunimoto bolted on softs, while No.15 Dan Ticktum (TEAM MUGEN) and No.64 Alex Palou (TCS NAKAJIMA RACING) rolled out on mediums. Kunimoto wasted no time pushing hard on nearly new rubber, clocking a 1:38.918 on his second timed lap. Yamashita slotted in just a tenth behind his teammate on his initial outing, while several heavy hitters including No.1 Naoki Yamamoto (DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING), No.18 Kamui Kobayashi (carrozzeria Team KCMG), and No.19 Yuhi Sekiguchi (ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL) opted to hold station in the pits during the opening minutes.
Friday's running didn't go too well, and while the soft tire produced a lap time today, I know we won't truly understand where we stand until qualifying,
Red flags waved six minutes in when rookie No.7 Artem Markelov (UOMO SUNOCO TEAM LEMANS) bounced too aggressively over the inside curb at the first Degner corner, lost his balance, and beached his machine in the gravel trap at the second Degner. Recovery efforts cleared the track by 10:32 AM, triggering a mad dash out of the pit lane as the rest of the field finally joined the fray.
Once the track went green, Yamashita lowered the target to 1:38.704 on his sixth timed lap, though Yamamoto and Hiroaki Ishiura soon matched his pace on medium tires. Sekiguchi then joined the soft-tire fray around the 25-minute mark, surviving a half-spin at the second Degner after running wide at the first apex to wrestle his machine to a 1:38.881, briefly good for third. The leaderboard shuffled again with twenty minutes remaining when No.20 Ryo Hirakawa (ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL) unleashed a 1:37.956 on softs, only to be gazumped moments later by Kazuki Nakajima at 1:37.975.
As the clock ticked inside the final ten minutes, the real charge began. Yamamoto grabbed the top spot with a 1:37.857, but Sekiguchi immediately bettered it with a 1:37.852 with three minutes to go. Right at the death, Yamashita reclaimed supremacy with a 1:37.634, while Kobayashi snatched second with a 1:37.795 right as the checkered flag dropped. At the end of the hour, Yamashita led Kobayashi and Sekiguchi, followed by Yamamoto, Kunimoto, Hirakawa, Nakajima, Ishiura, Palou, and No.65 Tadasuke Makino (TCS NAKAJIMA RACING).
Reflecting on his session, Yamashita remained cautious despite finishing on top. "Friday's running didn't go too well, and while the soft tire produced a lap time today, I know we won't truly understand where we stand until qualifying," Yamashita said. "The car feels better than yesterday, but I'm not yet at the point where I feel completely confident. We still need to improve, especially because the medium compound isn't working for us yet. With only twelve cars advancing to Q2 this year, a mistake could easily see us knocked out in Q1, so we have to make the car better."
Kobayashi echoed similar concerns regarding tire performance after ending the morning in second. "The soft tire is fine, but the medium tire just isn't working well for us, which is why we spent most of the session running on it," Kobayashi said. "That's our only real issue right now. The gap to others shows it's not about car balance—we just aren't utilizing the medium tire package properly. If things stay like this, getting through Q1 is going to be tough, but if we can survive that, we'll have a chance."
