On September 4-5, Rounds 11 and 12 of the Achievement Japanese F3 Championship were held at Okayama International Circuit. According to the calendar, a month had already passed since fall had started, but the practice session on September 3 took place in hot conditions that didn't even hint at relief.

Kimiya Sato marked his spot in 2nd place on the morning of the 3rd. ''He was finally able to record a good time from the start of the practice session,'' said Team Director Oniki. Despite spinning out during the afternoon attack lap and dropping to 4th, he still managed a superb start with a comprehensive score of 2nd in class.

The practice day marked the first time Sasaki raced in F3 at Okayama. ''When I raced here before, I had difficulties with my arms and was a little nervous about the increased difficulty of racing in F3, and it might be that my physical strength is a lot greater than in those days, but I didn't have any problems today,'' he said after taking 3rd in the afternoon's attack lap.

Opening on the 4th. Official qualifying started at 10:05am, but both drivers had a hard time. Without any major improvements in time, qualifying for Round 11 saw Sasaki take 6th and Sato land behind him in 7th.

''It's entirely different than how things were up to yesterday. The car's balance has gotten worse,'' said Sasaki, who made minor adjustments to the car during the interval, but this didn't result in better times. He was 7th in qualifying for Round 12. Sato changed tyre pressures and took 3rd place in the end.

As they approached the afternoon's race, both drivers focused on their meeting with engineers.

The grid boiled under the sun's rays during Round 11, just as it had during practice the previous day. As 15:00 passed, it became a little cloudy which made things cooler; however, the air temperature was recorded at 38 degrees Celsius while the track surface was measured at 51 degrees Celsius.

''I was late releasing the clutch at the start,'' said Sasaki, who ended up falling to the back of the pack, but eventually was able to recover one position before the back straight. However, due to continued car balance problems, he lamented, ''I just couldn't find a chance to pass or keep up with Kimiya,'' and eventually took 7th.

Sato also struggled with his car's balance. ''Coming out of the first corner and before the second, I wasn't able to keep pressure on the car ahead,'' he stated, unable to create any chances to improve his position. At one point only, the C-Class machine was able to close the gap with the car ahead to where there was only 0.3 seconds between them. However, unable to make the pass, he eventually took 6th place.

''I lost the balance ahead of the first corner. Maybe it was something that had been happening since yesterday. Maybe I just wasn't able to feel it,'' said Sato. He carefully recalled the condition of his machine one more time during a meeting that stretched into the late hours.

Round 12 was held on the morning of the 5th. This time, Sato was also entered in the Super Taikyu race. ''The S Tai team wished me good luck for my F3 race,'' he said, taking that support with him to the grid, fully confident.

Despite struggling with the car balance issues during qualifying, Sato had gnawed off his only podium start. However, he said, ''It felt like my engine was going to stall,'' and lost 3 positions by the first corner, dropping him back to 6th.

The 0.2-0.4 second difference with the car in 5th place was ''A distance I couldn't close unless he made a mistake,'' said Sato. The race continued with him maintaining his distance until the driver in 5th ran wide on the 13th lap. Without missing a beat, Sato pulled ahead at the first corner. Sasaki, who had been following him the entire time from his 7th place starting position, was also able to pull ahead.

Sasaki eventually claimed 6th at the chequered flag, unable to increase his pace and dealing with tyre wear during the second half of the race. ''Up until now, it was a common occurrence for it to be me who was unable to race well, even while the car was in great condition. Today marked the first time that both my machine and I were not in great shape. It was my most regrettable race so far.''

Sato, who finished in 5th place, stated as he recalled the weekend, ''If I was able to close the distance faster, maybe I could have ended in 4th place. The condition of the car got better during the second half, so I was able to improve my time, however, that first corner, which seems to be the topic at hand, was a very difficult place for me to make a proper attack.''