[Results report] May 11-12 “Fuji Champion Race Series” “KYOJO CUP”

Maeda had been struggling with her own issues during the race week for the FCR-VITA, so her mental weakness made it difficult for her to overcome them. Unlike the N-ONE races that she has experience with, I think there was a lot she could learn from the first qualifying for the Vita, which had a large number of cars and moved quickly. In the finals, she did not have any battles with rivals due to mental weakness, but it was good that she was able to complete the race and find issues for the next race.

In the KYOJO CUP, she had no problems qualifying, such as taking a place in the qualifying round, but her weaknesses were apparent and she was unable to improve her best time. In the finals, she also had mental problems and retired this time. Although she has the potential to achieve a good time, she is currently stopping herself. She needs to look at herself more objectively in terms of her mental state. When something is lacking, it is important to learn how to eliminate it. As a team, we would like to convey our knowledge to her and grow together.

For Shimizu, the FCR-VITA was her first race. Everything is a learning experience and something to absorb. Unlike practice, where you drive alone, she learned the difficulty of not being able to drive at her own pace while driving against rivals. The final was also an experience, and I think it was a very good thing that she said that she learned the difficulty of not being able to drive the way you want because you are too conscious of other drivers.

In the KYOJO CUP, she showed a performance in the qualifying round by beating her personal best by more than 1.5 seconds, based on what she learned from the FCR-VITA the day before. I would like to commend her for being able to bring out this much in such a short time. In the final, she also made a solid race with the experience from the day before. Although she still has some issues to work on, I think that her success in holding off her rivals the day before has boosted her confidence, so I hope she can carry this result into the next race.

I ended up retiring from the KYOJO CUP, and it was frustrating and disappointing that I couldn’t finish the race. I crashed in the qualifying for FCR-VITA, and I was still dragging that feeling around with me going into the race, so next time I’ll try to do my best. Before the FCR-VITA crash, I was driving with the belief that I would definitely achieve my personal best, so I’ll try to get back to that state before the next race. Looking at the virtual bests and data from practice, I see indicators that I should be able to achieve a pretty good time, but I haven’t been able to achieve it, so I want to get myself in good shape and be able to race with everyone in the next race.

Following yesterday’s FCR-VITA, today was the KYOJO CUP, and I was able to use what I learned from yesterday’s race to achieve my goal of not spinning, crashing, or receiving any penalties and safely receiving the checkered flag. I was 21st in the qualifying round, but I was able to finish 20th in the final, so I’m satisfied with the race. Next time, I’d like to build a foundation for racing and improve to a level where I can hang on to the person in front of me and not get left behind.