Suzuka was the host of the 9th and 10th rounds of the Japanese F3 championship where Marcus Ericsson competes in 2009 with Team Tom's.
Marcus have developed enormously by being in Japan, both on and off the track. For us Swede's it’s a rare treat seeing a youngster getting great results in international competition.
In the first of the two rounds Marcus had some trouble in qualifying and was forced to start in 6th position. But as soon as the green light came on he quickly set the record straight. He made some of the best overtaking maneuvers I've seen him do and was in the lead by halfway point. I was on the back side of the track, checking some racing lines through "Spoon Corner", a very fast and difficult double left hand turn. At first I jumped up and down seeing him come around in the lead and pulling away, about two laps later the joy was changed to disbelief when 5th gear in the gearbox broke. Although disappointing Marcus still managed to finish the race in fifth position after some great blocking tactics to at least pick up some valuable points.
Marcus was very disappointed. But such is racing and sometimes you are denied a great result by no fault of your own.
In the evening we had a great dinner with Team Tom's a thte tracks Japanes restaurant. Tom's is Toyota's factory F3 team and probably the best F3 team in the world. Due to Eje Elgh's and my connections we persuade them to sign Marcus for the -09 season and its a move neither have regretted. Marcus of course went to bed early, while I was left to uphold the good relations! Together with our good friends we tried all Sake brands Japan had to offer (Sake is strong and made from rice). They have quite a few it turned out and I could for sure not have driven anything the next day. This is one of the advantages by being retired!
The next day Marcus qualified on pole and did what I would describe as one of the best races in his short career. Suzuka is 5.8 km long and very technical and difficult. He led from start to finish. But more impressive, all his sector times over the race distance of 17 laps were within 1 tenth of a second of each other. The result put him on top of the championship standings with 70 points. Its very tight, only 4 points separate Marcus from third place driver Takuto Iguchi so for sure he's got a fight on his hands. 6 races remains.
Its now 3 years ago that Olsbergs and Brack Talent Development jointly set out to put Sweden back on the map in international formula racing. While we have ways to go yet it goes to show what a little imagination, hard work and persistence can accomplish.We look forward to the next race weekend in Motegi in the beginning of August.
All best, Kenny Brack