A roundup of LRGP news from the Friday Practice sessions at Suzuka…

Japanese GP – Practice 1 – Lotus Renault GP Report

Suzuka’s sinuous silhouette served the R31 and drivers Vitaly and Bruno well, with pleasant ambient temperatures and light winds watching over the 10^th and 11^th fastest times set in the session.

Japanese GP – Practice 2 – Lotus Renault GP Report

After switching onto the yellow-marked soft tyre for the second half of the session, Vitaly and Bruno improved on their earlier times, posting session-best times of 1min 33.446secs and 1min 34.557secs respectively.

Vitaly finished in P9, over eight tenths ahead of his team mate Bruno in P14

Naoki Tokunaga:“We focussed today on getting a good balance”

Are you happy to be back on this circuit rather than the slower corners of Singapore…
N.T.: Yes, this circuit is quite hard on tyres because the tyre energy as a biproduct of the tyre forces are quite high. Especially the front tyres. It is one of the highest circuits of all grand prix tracks. Coupled with this is the abrasive surface of the tarmac. Those combined can make the tyre degradation quite high so I think it is important you set the car balance right to avoid understeer in the high speed corner.

Alan Permane: “Our belief of qualifying both through to Q3 is very realistic”

How did Bruno and Vitaly evaluate the first two free practice sessions?
AP: Both drivers reported a lot of oversteer in FP1 but changes made through the session and in the break meant both were a lot happier in FP2. Bruno ran in both sessions with the tighter bodywork packaging which we used briefly in Singapore, albeit with modifications to aid cooling.

Discussion: Forum Thread

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