As with the previous outing, the 3rd round of FCJ was held at Fuji, on July 17-18. How much work had the drivers done in the 1-month interval? This was a round where that progress would be easy to see.

For this round, during the practice sessions on the 16th (Friday) the angle of the wings for each car was adjusted. This would change how the cars moved, and test just how well the drivers would be able to adjust their racing styles.

Matsui had been posting consecutive podium finishes, but his practice run times were sluggish. No matter what he did his times didn't change, and he was left with his head in his hands. Even so, he was able to use all of his experience and take 5th in both qualifying sessions.

In Round 5 Matsui got off to a slow start and got caught up in a collision. The balance of his machine compromised, he had a tough race ahead of him. He was able to skillfully block the car behind him, but slid wide at the first corner on lap 11 and traded places to finish 6th.

"I'm glad I could fix some things in qualifying - but had I been feeling this good from Friday things would probably have developed differently," said Matsui. The collision in Round 5 was in part due to his less than stellar qualifying position. In Round 6 his engine wouldn't start on the grid, and the race had entered the middle stages before he could get going. He was unable to run the required number of laps and didn't complete the race.

Tsubasa Kondo showed great form in the practice sessions, but, due in part to engine trouble, his two qualifying runs left him 18th and 21st. "On Friday I was able to improve my Sector 2 time (the middle of the lap) a lot, which was something I had been working on, but I lost all that progress in qualifying," said Kondo.

Kondo promised to recover in the race, but was caught up in the large crash at Prius corner in Round 5, and was forced to retire without even finishing a single lap.

He tried to get mentally prepared for Round 6. His goal was to move up from last (21st) to 10th. However in the race a problem with the car's water temperature meant it began to rise. He was forced to race so as to not damage his machine, and was only able to move up to 16th.

"Instructor Kageyama advised me to place a lot of importance on my senses when I race. He said that the reason I start out well and gradually fall back is that I pay too much attention to the data logger and think too much." Though he didn't reach his goal, it appears that Kondo learned an important lesson.

Mitsunori Takaboshi had the most trouble with his car after the wing adjustment. He was unable to decide on the optimal air pressure for his tyres, or even his own driving style before starting the qualifying sessions. He took 14th in Round 5 and 13th in Round 6.

In both races, he followed behind fellow NDDP driver David Zhu. "I watched Zhu's racing line and I learned a lot about how to drive a car that slides around easily. Being pulled along behind him my lap times kept improving."

"I'm now able to compare my own feeling when driving with the data logger info., and explain the difference to my instructor," Takaboshi said. His advisor also says that he has gotten better at asking questions. Takaboshi made his 4-wheel debut this year, and he is slowly but surely beginning to raise his game.

Zhu had been working hard on Sector 2, particularly on speed through 100R. While he was able to overcome that challenge, he began to lose time in the final section (Sector 3). "I'm glad I got faster at 100R, but it really is difficult to put together a complete, fast lap."

Zhu performed well in the qualifying simulation at the end of the practice sessions, but in real qualifying his times were sluggish and he finished 11th in both sessions. "For this round it all came down to not being able to get a good time in qualifying," he said looking back.

With Round 6 completed there was an engine shuffle for all cars. Said Zhu, "Having a completely different engine now I'm thinking about a lot of things, like how I should drive for the next rounds at Motegi." No matter the car or the track, his work from here on in concerns how flexible and adjustable he can make his driving.