Getting the most out of a thoroughbred racer like an F3000 can be a daunting task. In this clip, Naoki Hattori, JGTC star and regular pundit in the Best Motoring series struggles with his demanding machine, different tires and a semi-wet circuit. On a drying track, he begins the chase with a set of wet tires, treading carefully off the dry line and the rubbery deposits that cluster around the edges of the quickest corners.

After assuming there’s more grip to take advantage of, Hattori makes the move to slicks. Ultimately, this proves to be a mistake. In one of the slowest corners on the track, the F3000 rotates in the blink of an eye.

Prior to the days of GP2, an F3000 was the fastest single seater short of an F1.

The inability of slicks to handle even a mildly slick surface urges Hattori to return to the pits and consult with his team, resulting in a change of tires back to wets. The limited range of performance a slick tire offers makes the challenge of choosing the right time for tires incredibly important, and those who are able to keep it on the island, let alone put down decent times with slick tires in semi-wet conditions tend to go far in the racing world.

The low track temperature and slippery surface mean the tires are struggling to get up to their operating temperatures, so as teams typically do in these conditions, they add downforce by increasing the wings’ angles of attack. With more downforce, the increased drag means the car loses a bit of speed on the short straights that flank Tsukuba circuit, but the increased tire temperature and cornering speed more than compensate for this. Plus, when your engine is making 460 horsepower, that parasitic drag isn’t as big an issue.