7
Engineer Biasatti, what was the
outcome of the new
SuperFormula shakedown? What
feed-back have you had from
the test drivers?
«The shakedown went really well
and provided practically trouble-
free performance throughout the
test sessions. The car responded
well, and after two days of
testing it proved to be faster than
the current one. On the first day
we concentrated mainly on
calibrating the electronic engine
and gearbox management
model. Their comments were very
encouraging; they responded
favourably to its reduced weight
with respect to the SF14, and the
power of the carbon brakes, and
they expressed their satisfaction
with the car’s balance and
driveability».
Did the car perform as you
expected on the track? How
would you evaluate the
effectiveness of the tests carried
out in the Simulator over the
past months?
«The results on the track were
even better than we expected;
normally during the shakedown
you try to get as many kilometres
in as possible in order monitor
vehicle reliability and check that
the electronic and cooling systems
work properly, but you're not
really looking at performance.
The fact that we managed to
achieve better times than the
current pole and cover so many
kilometres without any problems
was very gratifying. It’s important
to the stress the excellent support
we had from Honda and Toyota,
who supplied us with some top
quality engines. Things went just
as well during the second test
session in Motegi at the beginning
of August. On the second day we
also carried out trials in wet
conditions, and Andre Lotterer,
who took the Toyota out, was
also very positive. The
contributions of the simulator
and the wind tunnel were
fundamentally important, and
this was borne out by the results
on the track. The drivers stressed
how closely the real car mirrored
the behaviour of the “virtual”
version on the Sim, and they were
both pleasantly surprised. We also
checked the data from the wind
tunnel and the Honda and
Toyota technicians complimented
us on how accurate they were».
What is there still to be done
before the car debuts in 2014?
«We still have three two-day test
sessions: the second week of
September in Suzuka, the first
week of October in Sugo, and
finally, the first week of
November in Suzuka»
Walter Biasatti
Project Manager
systems, then, on day two, the
teams tested a range of different
set-ups with the aim of
optimising performance. We were
all highly satisfied by the
outcome of the test, no-one
expected the cars to be so quick
right from the start, or to be able
to fit so many tests in, and cover
so many kilometres. The drivers -
Nakajima for Toyota and Izawa
for Honda, (who had both
already tried the car out on the
simulator) – were extremely
enthusiastic about the new
