79 replies to this topic

[William Hunt]

I personally find it crazy that JuJu will run in Super Formula this year. The level there is waaaaay above her head. It's in particular completely irresponsible of Hideki to let his daughter make such a jump. Sure Formula Euroformula was an F3 car but she wasn't even running in the front there and that field was small and very weak. It's no comparison with the level of competition and talent she now will have to face in Super Formula, the standard is very high there. She's not well prepared for it, she should have done F. Regional Japan or Super Formula Lights to train herself.

[HistoryFan]

I don't understand Hideki's strategy with his daughter. The results should tell him that it's wrong to do such big steps.

[KWSN - DSM]

I don't understand Hideki's strategy with his daughter. The results should tell him that it's wrong to do such big steps.

 

She has been overmatched in every series she ever ran in, she is simply not that good.

[Disgrace]

But equally we'll never really know her true potential due to this serial mismanagement.

[HistoryFan]

I would like Hideki Noda to set up an own Super Formula team. That would be nice.

[SB]

Today NHK's (Japan's equivalent of BBC) morning news show has a 3 minute interview of Juju in their sport corner, present her as a young , female sportsperson with bright future.

 

I guess this is exactly what the race organizer wanted from her - their own edition of Danica Patrick to promote their series to general public.  

[KWSN - DSM]

Today NHK's (Japan's equivalent of BBC) morning news show has a 3 minute interview of Juju in their sport corner, present her as a young , female sportsperson with bright future.

 

I guess this is exactly what the race organizer wanted from her - their own edition of Danica Patrick to promote their series to general public.  

 

That would be a huge stretch of perceived talent against what talent Juju have shown so far.

Edited by KWSN - DSM, 07 March 2024 - 00:30.

[MattPete]

The cheating allegations came from her brief sojourn into USF4, when she turned up for the first race of the year, went fastest in practice, and then promptly disappeared from the series. It's never been explained why she pulled out, apart from an apparent disagreement between Hideki Noda and Jay Howard. There was speculation that something dodgy was going on, but no-one has ever come forward to explain it.

I remember that Jay Howard thing. That was…weird.

[SouthF1]

Yikes. First practice of the season.

Juju dead last in P21. 4,3 seconds behind.
P20 was 1,7 behind...

Qualy, Juju last in her qualy group. 4,8 seconds behind.
She is 3,4 seconds behind the closest car ahead.

I don't see how she's gonna last more than a few rounds too be honest.

[Muppetmad]

Does somebody have the grid for tomorrow's race? I can't follow the races unfortunately, but I'll be interested to see how the season plays out.

[Marklar]

This comparison video is just wow. I have never rated Juju but at least in lower tier racing series with less grip/aero her deficits are not that extremely glaring, here she is fully exposed

https://twitter.com/...410229011358154

[KWSN - DSM]

I just do not understand why she and her dad think being exposed more and more as having very little talent for the series she is in can in any way be a positive.

[Clrnc]

To jump from lower tier racing to arguably the 2nd fastest racing series in the world is just... not smart. 

 

Her struggles is expected to be honest. Don't understand what her father was thinking though 

[Muppetmad]

https://twitter.com/...7943770/photo/1

 

To answer my own question, here is the grid for tomorrow.

[juicy sushi]

There is no way she isn’t replaced by the next round. This is just unsustainable.

[SouthF1]

She made a post on social media yesterday saying "I try best I can for under the circumstances"

Has her father already started the blame game or what's happening.

Also I fear it will be even worse in the race than in qualy.
Juju is built like a 5 year old boy. I can't imagine her neck, shoulders and arms lasting an entire race without causing her too lose laptime.

She might be several laps behind unless there are SC's.

[Clrnc]

Looked not as bad in the race

[Disgrace]

She beat Pourchaire basically on merit, hilarious.

[SB]

She beat Pourchaire basically on merit, hilarious

 

Spent a little time on timing screen and lap times , she was basically 1 second per lap slower than the leaders once the tires were warmed up ( no tire warmers in this series, which is a great fun  ) , which is much better I expect in a new car and new circuit - esp this is Suzuka. But she really urgently needs to learn how to drive with those cold tires.

 

On the other hand Pourchaire really serious damages his stock value this weekend -- making so many mistakes these two days. Could any one share the video of his crash in Dunlop curve ? This was huge and so fortunately he got unhurt.

[juicy sushi]

Barnicoat in the car instead of Theo for the next race, nothing announced for races after that, yet:  https://www.motorspo...round/10610683/

[BRG]

For someone who was massively hyped as the next Big Thing a couple of years ago, Pourchaire was looking out of his depth in Japan. 

[juicy sushi]

I think the quality of the teams is very uneven in that series.  Yamamoto came over to check out a couple of Indycar races last year and mentioned the level of prep and funding put into each car was far beyond what was normal in Super Formula.  The cars are fast, but the teams running them might not be quite as good as you'd think they should be, so you get F2 levels of variation in pace.

[Frood]

Yeah, I don't think you can judge Pourchaire on one solitary performance. Bear in mind that Yuhi Sekiguchi - who has 7 wins in Super Formula - didn't score any points at all last year in the Impul car Pourchaire took over.

[Viryfan]

For someone who was massively hyped as the next Big Thing a couple of years ago, Pourchaire was looking out of his depth in Japan.

Still outqualified his teammate on his solitary outing by a few tenths.

[Frood]

Iwasa had a quiet first race weekend, but he's come out swinging this weekend, taking pole by over 3 tenths.

[Frood]

Quick update on the season:

 

Iwasa took pole at Autopolis, but had a poor start and fell back behind Tadasuke Makino and Naoki Yamamoto. Makino pulled away, with Iwasa stuck behind Yamamoto; Yamamoto was the first to pit. Makino and Iwasa pitted at the same time, but Makino made it out ahead of his rivals, with Iwasa ending up behind both Yamamoto and Kakunoshin Ōta. Makino made the most of his new tyres to pull away whilst Iwasa busied himself with passing Ōta and Yamamoto, and by the time he did, the gap was insurmountable. Makino took his first win in the series, and tied on points with Tomoki Nojiri, who'd had a quiet weekend, in the lead of the championship.

 

Sugo this weekend saw Nojiri bounce back with pole, ahead of team-mate Iwasa and Sho Tsuboi in third. The race was heavily weather-affected, and started behind the safety car. As soon as the SC was called in, Kazuya Ōshima almost immediately crashed, bringing the safety car back out again. Once Ōshima's car was cleared away, the SC was back in again. Kamui Kobayashi was about the only driver able to make any progress, but there were few racing laps before Sena Sakaguchi crashed and brought out the red flag. The race was never restarted, so Nojiri, Iwasa and Tsuboi filled the podium. Half-points were awarded, and Nojiri now leads the championship ahead of Iwasa.

[HistoryFan]

first time in 50 years with no foreign drivers on the grid!

[HistoryFan]

Nyck de Vries to race 2 rounds for Impul in Super Formula.

So we have again a Non-Japanese driver.

And it's a former Formula 1 driver.

 

https://www.italiara...amenti/250905/6

 

Nice move. Would like to see him the full season in 2025.

[pacificquay]

Nyck de Vries to race 2 rounds for Impul in Super Formula.

So we have again a Non-Japanese driver.

And it's a former Formula 1 driver.

 

https://www.italiara...amenti/250905/6

 

Nice move. Would like to see him the full season in 2025.

 

Not possible due to multiple clashes with WEC and Formula E

[juicy sushi]

Yeah, no way he'd take the step down in his career when he's a core part of Toyota's WEC program and driving for Mahindra.