Okayama International Circuit (Full Course)

1. Track Character

Okayama is not a big-speed problem in the Super Formula Lights. The lap turns on two slow exits: the C3 hairpin and the C5 complex. S1 and S2 can be matched to the same-conditions reference. The remaining time is mostly getting the car rotated early enough to use throttle sooner out of those two corners.

The fast sweeper is the trap. It feels like a fourth-gear corner, but the car is already near the 4th-to-5th crossover speed. The data says fifth carries the run onto the straight better on the extra-short stack.

2. Our Setup Build - Week Log

The baseline was Tamas's warmer-track setup run in cooler, higher-grip conditions. That made the car under-sprung for the load it was producing: it squatted, rode the floor, and pushed on exit. The work was a platform correction, not a generic stiffness chase.

O2 is the banked keeper. The later edge-finding still matters, but O3 and O4 are no longer clean rejects: the track was heavily used and not reset, so the speed loss may be surface drift rather than setup. What survives is narrower: the O0 -> O2 platform correction worked, and the O3/O4 questions need a reset-track A/B before they go on the kept/rejected board.

3. Reference Comparison

The Tamas reference lap in corners.json is a corner-shape reference, not the lap-time ceiling. It is useful for gears, brake pressure territory, and where the car should be trailing brake versus taking throttle.

The same-conditions pace reference is Anh Nguyen at 1:18.067. The current PB is 1:18.218, a 0.151 s gap. The current read is specific: C3 and C5 are still late to full throttle. C1, C7, and the S1/S2 run are not the current limiter.

4. Tamas's New Setup

No public-safe comparison to a new Okayama release is recorded yet. The work on this page should be read as our measured build from the available baseline and local telemetry, not as a statement about a later setup release.

5. Corner Read

The table below carries the exact references. The session read is simpler: Okayama is about converting the two slow exits without giving away the fast sweeper.

• C3 is the main limiter. The target is not more apex speed; it is turning the brake release into earlier, cleaner throttle.
• C5 is the follow-up limiter. The gain is smaller than C3, but the same throttle-conversion problem shows up there.
• The fast sweeper is the gear-choice trap. Fifth looks less obvious, but it carries the straight on the extra-short stack.
• C1 and C7 are not the current time leak. Keep them tidy and spend attention on the exits that still move the lap.

6. Open Questions

• Rear third spring is still 0 N/mm. It is the next untested platform lever.
• O3/O4 need a reset-track A/B before either change is called rejected.
• The keeper has not been run to a full stint or pit stop, so tyre wear and race pace are still unread.
• Late-session hot pressure rose about 3 kPa. A cold-pressure step for hotter track state is still untested.

7. Takeaways

• Grip has an axis. A setup from a hotter, lower-grip state can be too soft when the track is cooler and faster.
• Bottoming is not the target by itself. It improved past the keeper, but track-state drift makes the later lap losses inconclusive.
• Gear choice belongs to road speed, not the shift light. At the Okayama sweeper, fifth is the gear that carries the straight.
• The next lap time is not hiding everywhere. Right now it is C3 and C5 exit conversion.