4
Super Formula
T
he new Dallara car for the 2014
edition of the Japanese Super
Formula championship has finally
made it onto the track. Two days of
testing in Fuji on 10th and 11th July
brought a smile to the faces of the men
from Varano de’ Melegari, the drivers,
and the technicians from Honda and
Toyota, the two Japanese giants who are
supplying the 2 litre, turbo-compressed
engines for the championship.
Over two very full days of testing, Kazuki
Nakajima (in the Toyota version) and
Takuya Izawa (Honda) covered a huge
number of kilometres in the two single-
seaters, which have been so lovingly
developed by Engineer Walter Biasatti.
Visitors to the Dallara Facebook page can
admire images of the shake-down,
including on-board video-clips recorded
during the test, during which everyone
was pleasantly surprised by the results,
since, as Engineer Biasatti explains in his
interview in this issue, the SF14
immediately managed to lower the track
record at Fuji. Although no one thought
the car would perform so well so soon,
the result was not entirely unexpected; in
fact on the eve of the tests the
technicians estimated an improvement of
around 3 seconds with respect to this
year's model. And Dallara fulfilled its
promise.
Back in March the initial blueprints
hinted at a sleek, modern design that had
certain similarities to the GP2, but was
decidedly different, and this impression
was confirmed during the shakedown.
The Dallara SF14 has a high nose,
although without an air scoop, naturally,
since it uses a turbo-powered engine, the
engine hood is sharply tilted with a
distinctive “fin” effect. The highly tapered
profile of the belly adds to the dynamic
effect, with the suspension wishbones
mounted so that the release is straight
up.
When Dallara was commissioned to
produce the Super Formula its mandate
was to inject new life into the Japanese
championship organised by Japan Race
Promotion, which started life in 1996 as
Formula Nippon before adopting the
current name in 2013, and to make it
more exciting.
The new engines are the Honda HR12E
and the Toyota RV8K 3.4 V8, which
provide 550 horsepower, rising to 600
thanks to the overboost. And in order to
guarantee even more excitement, Super
Formula also features the OTS (Overtake
System), which can be activated for up to
20 seconds at a time and up to 5 times
per race. This device enables the driver to
increase the engine revolutions from
10,300 to 10,700, and while it is enabled
a lamp positioned on top of the roll bar
starts flashing: the light is red for the race
leader and white for the rest of the field.
The championship will use Bridgestone
tyres exclusively.
Super Formula represents the latest in a
long line of top level challenges for
Dallara Automobili, which has been
selected to supply the cars for what is
effectively the most prestigious motor
racing competition in the Far East, and
which will be decided over of seven races
this year. The next stops on the road map
leading up to the 2014 will be the test
sessions in Motegi, Sugo and Suzuka.
