Richard Bradley Motorsport

On the weekend of 12 and 13 March Richard was racing at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Rounds 3 and 4 of the Japanese F3 championship.

Testing on Friday was held in dry conditions and Richard showed good potential on his old tyre run, but was not so happy with his new tyre run with a few issues that needed ironing out.

Qualifying was held on Saturday midday and the track temperature was a lot hotter than on Friday and this caught Richard and his team out. However it left Richard P5 for both races. Race one was held on Saturday afternoon and Richard made a great start to leap from 5^th to 3^rd by turn three. He had a look on the inside of 2^nd place into turn five but decided to play it safe as it looked like it could’ve been a risky move. Richard then set about catching the leaders, but was put under pressure from behind whilst catching them, making it harder to make a way past the drivers in front and eventually managed to finish in 3^rd place.

Race 2 was held on Sunday morning and Richard again made a good start to be fighting for 4^th place into turn one. However Richard then unfortunately got a big knock from another driver on the front wing which effected his progress. On a track which is notoriously difficult to follow on due to the high downforce nature, Richard stayed in 5^th place until the field spread out, and once he had clear air he was lapping at a similar speed to the leader and managed to finish the race in 5^th place.

Richards next race will be held at Fuji Speedway on the 14^th and 15^th of July.

2012 Japanese F3 Round 1 and 2

Suzuka

On the weekend of the 14^th and 15^th of April Richard was racing at the famous Suzuka circuit in Japan in rounds 1 and 2 of the 2012 All Japan F3 championship.

This year would be Richards second in the category and testing had gone well with the new for 2012 car and Richard was looking forward to the start of the season.

Friday practice for the race went very well with Richard being the fastest in session one and then doing 2 laps that were quicker than anyone in the second session at the end of the day.

For Saturday qualifying however it rained and this would be Richards first time in the rain driving the new surface at the Suzuka circuit. After only 2 10 minute qualifying sessions to get used to the track Richard ended up starting P6 for race 1 and P5 for race 2. With the races looking to be dry Richard was looking forward to them.

Race one was held on Saturday afternoon and by now the track had dried up completely. However disaster struck for Richard at the start as his engine stalled on the starting grid. This meant he fell back to last and had to work his way up. However with some fantastic overtaking moves Richard managed to climb his way up to 4^th place on a track which is known to be difficult to pass on. On the last lap though a problem with the fuel pump occurred and Richard had to slow down to make sure he finished the race, crossing the line in P5. As a consolation Richard did 2 laps faster than anybody else in the race, even though he had to follow and overtake slower cars.

After the speed that was shown in race one, Richard was looking forward to race 2 on Sunday morning. This was also dry and Richard made an excellent start from 5^th place to be 3^rd going into the first corner. Unfortunately a small mistake by Richard on lap 3 whilst chasing 2^nd place meant he lost some time and had to catch back up with the guys in front. He then engaged in an excellent duel with the 2^nd place driver who was defending very well, before with 2 laps to go finding a way past in a very well executed move on the way to turn one. However by now the leader was out of reach and Richard had to be content with 2^nd place, but very happy with the speed and potential shown through the weekend.

Richards next race will be on the 12^th and 13^th of May at the Twin Ring Motegi Circuit.

2010 Formula BMW Pacific champion Richard Bradley has agreed a new contract with PETRONAS Team TOM’S for the 2012 Japanese Formula 3 season. Richard made his debut with the team last year in his first year of Formula 3 and finished the championship in fifth place, with two podiums.  Richard then joined the team for the Macau Grand Prix and finished 9^th on his debut round the daunting 6.2 km Guia street circuit.

Expectations are high after Richards performances last season. Richard commented “I am very happy to be rejoining TOM’S for the 2012 season. With the experience gained last year and with proper preparation I believe we can be at the front fighting for victories and the championship. I also believe the engineering capability of the team will be a massive attribute in getting the most out of the new car and I am very much looking forward to the first round at Suzuka in April!”

S. Koumi from TOM’S added “We are very pleased to have him continuously this year in Tom’s F3 squad. Although it was difficult year for him last year but we believe he has learnt a lot and enjoyed building his experience in various aspects. We are looking forward to his further progress and establishing himself as a professional racing driver during coming season.”

Established in 1974, TOM’S Co. Ltd. specialises in the tuning of Toyota engines and other touring car components, competition parts as well as in the development and sale of semi-Toyota genuine parts. TOM’S is also the appointed works racing team of Toyota Motor Corporation and has a record which includes 14 Japanese F3 titles and 5 Macau Grand Prix Victories.

Valencia Test December 2011

The Macau Grand Prix in November marked the last race of the 2011 season for Richard. However preparation for the 2012 season began almost immediately afterward with a 2 day test at the Valencia Ricardo Tormo circuit in Spain in the middle of December. The Spanish Moto GP circuit is a great place to test during the winter months due to the mild temperatures compared to circuits in the UK and Japan at that time of year.

Richard was doing the test with Carlin motorsport, the team Richard contested the 2011 Grand Prix De Pau with in May. Richard missed the first 2 days of the test  but performed very well on his first day in a car which was very different to his usual Japanese spec car. Once he got into the rhythm of the circuit.Richard was very fast on older tyres  He had some work to do on the new tyres though as the British Championship spec Cooper tyres require a very different technique to the Japanese Yokohama tyres Richard is used to.

There were fewer drivers on day 2 so this was  a perfect opportunity for Richard to work on the technique required with the new Cooper tyres.and he was much quicker than he had been on day 1.

Richard felt that this was a very useful test. He  made significant improvements as he became familiar with the tyre , the car and the circuit. All of this experience will be useful going into next year.

Richard made his debut in the 58^th running of the Macau Grand Prix on the weekend of the 20^th November. This would be the first time he has competed in this famous race. 18 out of the 24 current formula one drivers have raced here.

Thursday started in difficult conditions as heavy rain greeted the drivers for practice. Richard did well to stay out of crashes in a session disrupted by many red flags and accidents to learn the 28 corner 6.2 km long street circuit. The rain stayed until Friday when qualifying took place. Richard unfortunately had some bad luck with a car crashing in front of him on his timed lap and with the road blocked Richard had no choice but to hit the other driver, damaging the car too much to continue. This meant that Richard would start in 24^th place for the 10 lap qualifying race.

The qualifying race which would determine the grid for Sundays main race was run over 10 laps on Saturday afternoon. Richard made a great start to vault up into the top 20 instantly. Unfortunately an incident occurred with another driver early on and Richard was forced out of the race and would therefore start the main race from 25^th.

After a dramatic start to the 58^th Macau Grand Prix with a car stalling on the grid Richard made up a few positions before the safety car was brought out for the first time. From there he made his way up into the top 10 finishing in an eventual 9^th place from 25^th on the grid after 15 laps of racing.

The main aim of learning the track for next year was accomplished with a good result to follow and Richard will be back next year with the aim of winning. A big thank you goes out to TOM’S and Richards personal sponsor for the weekend, In Sense.