Its pretty tough interviewing someone at a party where everyone is drinking and socialising courtesy of Honda Malaysia for all SuperGT teams racing Honda cars, specifcally the NSX. When you have to pull away two of the star attractions at the party for an interview, you really don’t know what to expect, I know I wont be too happy being pulled away from my drink in the middle of a party, but maybe that’s why I’m not a pro-racer. Ralph Firman and Takuya Izawa were as warm as old friends can be, actually having walked in on us having dinner, it was actually quite a laugh getting things sorted for the interview.
Raplh, a former Formula 1 driver with Team Jordan Ford is a part of last year’s championship winning team where he partnered Daisuke Ito as both aces helped Team ARTA NSX clinch the 2007 Championship title, Daisuke has since moved on to a rival team and his seat was filled by budding rookie, Takuya Izawa who is a two time Tokachi 24 Hour Race champion, two time SL Haruina Series SC class Series champion and has numerous other podium and top ten finishes. We got together with friends from Hypertune Magazine, Motorsport Channel and Paul Tan himself and spent about half an hour with the guys from Arta, here’s how the conversation went:
How scary is it (racing)?
(Ralph)How scary? Hmmm…I don’t know, for me its not scary or anything. It’s not very scary as long as the brakes work and I’ve had so many accidents already that I can’t remember.
Oh that bad?
(Ralph)Yeah, the only time its sometimes scary is in the rain and if its pretty heavy rain and there are a lot of cars in front, you cannot see anything so you have to look sideways to understand where to brake for the corner. So if normally you have a car that’s good then its confidence and not scary. I think scary is the wrong word. So as long as you’re brave then its fine.
Has your car caught fire during a race before? In all your years of driving?
(Ralph)Yes, I’m trying to think. Not that bad. No, nothing serious.
Any small accidents?
(Ralph) I didn’t have many accidents. Maybe that’s why I have the confidence to drive and no fear to take part in the Grand Prix.
What are the developments for Honda to defend the championship?
(Ralph & Takuya) What are the developments? Of the car you mean? Ah, well this year we actually have a new team, a new group of staff running, that was a big change. But the car is still basically the same, they just made a small improvement in aerodynamics and we have a new rear section for the car and this weekend we’re running the single liter for the first time, that is better for the engine.
So there are many small changes here and there, but not one big major development. But small improvements that make quite a good improvement overall. Honda on the engine side has done a good job. Bridgestone also helped as well.
Probably there has been a lot of weight handicap changes. Yeah, we’re pretty happy at the moment and will continue to compete at our best.
Sepang is legendary for its heat. Formula 1 drivers complain about it, saying, its very hot. So in a closed environment like the NSX it must be really hard for youl especially with the heat. Does that affect your performance in any way? Do you all prepare specifically to race in Sepang? How different is it with the temperature in Japan?
(Ralph)Actually in Japan, in the summertime there its almost the same and there’s no one same temperature all year, so even though its very hot with the heat wave all year, I think as long as you hydrate and take in as much of water as possible, we can stay in good shape, and we have a cool suit as well. The team has done a good job the last two years, improving the airflow in the car. That made a big difference.
Robert Kubica lost his drink while racing, so if that were to happen to you while racing this weekend, how would you cope? Would it be really difficult for you?
(Ralph) Ya, the thing is you just have to get on with it really. There’s nothing you can do. You can hope for the ideal, but it doesn’t always happen.
Would it affect you in any way? Would you have any problems or anything?
Not really, I’ll just feel pretty bad afterwards.
What is your exercise regime like everyday to be a GT driver? Compared to when you were a Formula One driver.
(Ralph) You typically don’t have to be as fit to drive a GT car cos’ you don’t get the G-force but there’s no reason you shouldn’t be as fit. At the moment I’m getting into better shape than I was before.
Does that mean we can find you with the exercise regime during your off peaks?
Ya, all year round. I enjoy it. I’m fine with that.
Ok, the GTR’s are coming strong to the game. What are the qualities you have that the GTR’s cannot stand against?
(Ralph) The difference is that they are driving another well made car. But now they have handicap weight also we now have a good car and confidence in driving. Really, I think we can go far.
Izawa san, Is this your first time racing in Sepang? How do you think you can cope with everything Sepang has to offer?
I trained for a month for Sepang before I came. In Jan I drove here so when I drove here it was ok but I came this time when it is very hot and it is a very different experience so I don’t know how. Maybe it’ll be ok.
Are you nervous about driving?
A little bit.
What do you think your chances are of taking the GT championship home with you?
(Takuya) Well, it’s a long season still and I think we need to concentrate on each race. We need to get a good result this weekend and then…Ya, I think we have a good chance and hopefully we can win on Sunday and even if we don’t win, with a big finish in the podium, I think we’re back in with a good jump. You know we’ll try our best and see where we end up.
Who decides on the set up of the NSX of the Super GT race?
(Ralph) Honestly, I have a lot more experience in racing the NSX I know exactly so I know directly what to or how to improve it but Takuya does a good job in giving feedbacks to the engineers and we work together well and yeah, I think we both have the same kind of driving style and we both feel the same thing so we’re always improving the car which is a good thing and I had the same relationship with Daisuke, we both have similar driving style. So no matter who is driving the car, we always have a chance to improve it over the next weekend so I think as long as you get good information, we can work together as a team and towards the end of the year he can gain more experience and start having more involvement directly. It is good feedback but maybe the ideas change.
The diversity of competition, I mean of course there are other Honda teams racing here as well but some people believe that the biggest competition comes from the Nissan Nismo GTR team, they got some pretty good publicity around, so what do you think of them? How competitive do you think they will be this weekend?
(Ralph) Yeah, the 22 car can be very quick, very competitive. Similar weight now. Ya there’s a good car over there obviously using next year regulations so if we are using next year’s regulations we’ll be pretty good as well. It’s the same situation but I think if the weekend qualifying is great I think we should win.
Should win?
Ya, I think we will win
Back to the cars, the NSX is not exactly new. It’s probably the longest running chasis….But I’m sure it’s modified extensively according to the regulation but do you feel that there can be any improvements made to make it more competitive than it is now? Is it better in any way compared to the new rival?
(Ralph) It’s not very competitive obviously, the biggest thing that improves the car is spending money and there is a budget constraint on how many people are working on the car and everything. But in general they seem to be doing a fantastic job round bout last year when they made a new monocoque to replace the old carbon monocoque, which is yeah a huge improvement and in general the car can’t be improved that much more but yeah the biggest thing that makes a care go further in any championship is aerodynamics and that depends on how much money you have to spend and how many manhours do you have, people working on it so in general the balance of the car is normally very good so mechanically we don’t need to change anything.
You are new working with each other, so how has it been so far in regards to development and team management, traveling. Has it been gelling well with the team and all considering that you all have new faces in the team. Has it affected the performance in any way?
(Ralph) Well the start of the year was the rough bit but we’re bound to get used to it but there’s a really good atmosphere in the team. I’ve worked with most mechanics before, all in different teams and now they’re all working together so I knew one or two of them before so I think it is a good atmosphere. Izawa has also worked with the same team before for Formula 1 so he has a good team in there.
I think at one point the NSX was actually turbo charged. So now you’ve gone back to the non-turbo charged version. How big of a change was that?
(Ralph) Takuya never drove a turbo charge. I drove it. In terms of drivability its better. The biggest difference is the aerodynamics because it’s a rear engine car, it’s very difficult to get the turbo to cool. We had the air inlet in the side of the car so we can’t really accelerate because the air flows into the engine not around the car and it pulls down the car. When you’re accelerating it pulls the weight down when you need it but the engine was good.
Besides what I asked just now on GTR, who do you think will be your closest competition? Where would your fiercest competition come from?
This weekend?
Yea.
22.
Both of you were racing in other races, other than Super GT. What are the races that you have participated in?
(Ralph) Oh, Formula 1
So what do you think of the current regulations? The weight penalty and all? Do you think it’s better? Good for spectators, does it make the race much more interesting and what do you think about the driving aspect of it?
(Ralph) Well ya it makes the race more interesting but when I look at the results, the way the championships finishes last year then more people can join the race and maybe four or five people can win the championship so I think in that respect you have to say it does work in keeping the interest. It’s frustrating when you have all the handicap weight but at the end of the day it does work and I think it’s good. But they need to make it a bit simpler and not keep changing it every weekend and more clear so that you can follow it and understand.
Which are the circuits that you prefer?
Here is one of my favourite place to come to. Been on pole position or 2nd in the last 4 years. So, its one of the favourite place not only to race but also to spend time here as well especially after going to Japan and experiencing the circuits as well. I think it’s a more advanced circuit. Its good to drive in any car around here.
With regards to other teams that race Honda NSX? Who will be your biggest challenge?
This weekend? 17 and 18.
For a budding race driver, what would be a better drive. What would be your best advice the best way to reach your level?
I think in Malaysia you have the junior formulas which is great. The motorsports in Asia is becoming more structured and its great. So we need to find a sponsor because its very difficult, it’s not cheap. Especially go-kart. You’re very lucky if you can take kart racing here. And I think if you can, go to Europe to race. Europe has the best racetrack for that.
Some pics from the party
Special thanks to Honda Malaysia and their PR team for helping us with the interview.
