September 21, 2018
CIK-FIA World Championship has come into the next stage with qualifying practice and qualifying heat after 2 sessions of free practice.
Ren Sato set P1 and P2 lap in his practice group, showing his remarkable speed on the dry track.
Qualifying practice was not the best timing for him with a strong wind and low temperature, however Ren showed his exceptional capability again and managed to get P3 in the group, P12 in total.
The day became even more difficult as the weather suddenly changed right before qualifying heat. Heavy rain and strong wind made the track conditions completely different, which was definitely the worst case scenario for Ren who doesn’t have any experience here.
Although it was the first time for him to drive in a wet condition at Kristianstad, he controlled his car and finished in 5th place.
As a result of the contact in the rolling start, Ren got a 10 seconds penalty and became P7 in his first qualifying heat.
After experiencing the wet condition, he became more confident for the rest 5 sessions of qualifying.
Ren did a brilliant job on Friday and impressed us very much.

Comments from Ren SATO:
Not an easy day for me with the changing track conditions, but I did my job and have to be satisfied with the result.
I was quite confident on a dry track here, having the pace close to the top driver.
P12 in qualifying was not what I wanted, but I was sure that I could fight against any other drivers.
That sudden change of the weather forced us to change the plan, obviously.
To tell the truth, I didn’t bring my rain wear to Sweden!
Fortunately the team supported me perfectly and I could concentrate on the wet track.
In the qualifying heat with heavy rain and strong wind, I found that the other drivers were very aggressive and there were so many contacts.
I could push harder to get a better position, but I didn’t take risks and concentrated to finish the heat without any incident.
P7 in the first qualifying heat was not what I expected, but it could have been even worse.
I have 5 qualifying sessions to go and I’m sure that I can show you how a Japanese champion driver fights.
Now I can’t wait for the next session!