After signing a two-year deal to race for Nissan in FE, Fenestraz initially expressed hopes of constant his profession racing in Japan in both Tremendous Components or SUPER GT when his schedule allowed.
Nevertheless, Nissan has vetoed his continued participation in SUPER GT with Toyota, leaving Tremendous Components as the one viable possibility, regardless of the provisional FE calendar that includes three clashes with the Japanese single-seater sequence.
Whereas it was clear from the outset that his Nissan deal would take precedence within the occasion of clashes, Fenestraz has now gone a step additional and dominated out collaborating in Tremendous Components once more no less than till after the FE season-closing London ePrix on the finish of July.
It leaves solely the opportunity of collaborating within the ultimate two rounds of the Tremendous Components season – at Motegi in August and Suzuka in October – ought to a deal be struck along with his present Kondo Racing workforce for him to look in these races.
Fenestraz advised Motorsport.com: “I hope to be right here [in Super Formula] for the second half of the season. However the first half is simply too busy and I must concentrate on Components E. That would be the precedence over every part else.”
Toyota and Kondo are considered focusing on signing one other worldwide driver to exchange Fenestraz alongside Kenta Yamashita, who is anticipated to stick with the workforce, for 2023.
Tremendous Components Lights champion Kazuto Kotaka may present an alternate in case this proves unimaginable, with the choice of bringing again Fenestraz for the ultimate two occasions of the season if Kotaka fails to impress.
Yamashita admitted that the prospect of dropping Fenestraz is a possible reason for concern when it comes to sustaining Kondo’s current sturdy type.
“Having Sacha as a teammate has been an excellent impetus for me,” Yamashita advised Motorsport.com. “I don’t know who can be driving subsequent 12 months. I wouldn’t say I’m fearful about it, however I simply hope they discover any person fast to take his place.”
Fenestraz himself added: “I really feel house right here at Kondo, we’ve been working so laborious to deliver them again up, and it will be unhappy to see them drop once more in any case that onerous work. I’d be blissful to assist by some means to maintain the workforce up there.”
Fenestraz bows out by sealing P2 in standings
A dismal run to sixteenth in Saturday’s penultimate race at Suzuka formally marked the top of Fenestraz’s faint hopes of beating Tomoki Nojiri to the title.
However the Franco-Argentine driver rebounded with a powerful run to fourth in Sunday’s finale, passing Ryo Hirakawa – with whom he had been stage on factors – to safe the runner-up spot within the championship.
Sacha Fenestraz, KONDO RACING, Ryo Hirakawa, carenex TEAM IMPUL
Photograph by: Masahide Kamio
After describing his lack of tempo on Saturday as “bizarre”, Fenestraz mentioned an in depth evaluation of the #4 Kondo machine that evening revealed some elementary points that the workforce was in a position to rectify.
“We discovered one thing on the dampers, the bump rubbers, have been fully damaged,” Fenestraz defined. “And the ground we modified after the crash [at Fuji] was an outdated one, not efficient, and we have been dropping 70-80kg of downforce on the rear, which is so much at a monitor like Suzuka.
“In order that clarifies the tempo of Saturday, and Sunday was a giant turnaround. We have been nonetheless solely P7 in qualifying, so not mega, however the automobile felt a lot better.”
Though he’s sure Suzuka wasn’t his final Tremendous Components race weekend, Fenestraz leaves the sequence with a single victory and 5 podiums to his credit score in 17 begins, all with Kondo Racing.
“I’ll miss racing right here so much,” he mentioned. “The automobiles are wonderful, with a number of downforce and good tyres, truthful racing with out a lot contact, the tracks are nice, and so are the Japanese followers.
“However it’s not goodbye, that’s for certain. I will be again earlier than too lengthy, hopefully.”