The Japanese Formula 3 championship debuted the next generation of Formula 3 engines, that should be gracing the rest of the world soon.
The All-Japan Formula 3 championship kicked off this week at Suzuka, with every single car finishing all races they started.
Engines in F3 have traditionally been two-litre air cooled powerplants, and this has not changed. However, previously teams have been restricted to using highly tuned production motors, whereas now rules permit full specification racing engines to be used.
Of the Dallaras racing in Suzuka, two were running with TOM built Toyota engines, two built by Mugen Hondas and the remaining three by Toda Racing.
However, it is not all plain sailing for the teams. Months after development on the new engines began, another batch of rule changes were released. This threw designers off course slightly, and has left the cars not being as good as they could have been.
TOM'S boss Susumu Koumi explained that "Although we had various difficult situations during our engine development, it performed reasonably well."
Koumi is concerned that it could make the cars easier to drive - thus making the step to Formula 1 from All-Japan F3 larger than it already is. The series is one of only a handful whose champions are granted a Super license by the FIA.
"Power is approximately 10 per cent more than the old engine, but weight restrictions on various parts and having to carry an alternator that is 10 per cent heavier are a negative factor. Also, more weight on the rear affects the balance. That weight on the rear means it is less sensitive to the throttle, so there is better traction even if you are rough on the throttle. It's a bit easier to drive, especially in the wet, but I'm not sure if this is good for driver training."
Koumi estimated that lap times are around one second faster, with top speed up by five per cent. TOM's drivers Takamoto Katsuta and Yuichi Nakayama won both races in the weekend's events.
B-Max Engineering's Katsumasa Chiyo, driving a Toda engine, took third place in one race.
Toda, a performance engine tuner, said "All Toda Racing-powered cars ran the whole distance without any engine problem, and we are happy that our customer team reached the podium."
"The performance of the three engine manufacturers in Japanese F3 looks quite close but with slightly different characteristics. This should make it exciting."
Mugen Honda's sporting division, M-TEC, explained that "performance is up more than 20bhp. We were able to run without any problem throughout the weekend. We were also able to obtain a lot of running data. We are now thinking to further increase performance and durability."
It is expected that the new powerplants will be permitted for use in the European Formula 3 Championship & British Formula 3 Championship in the 2014 season.
Image:
F1-Blogger
