Garland SF-01

The "Garland SF-01" (ガーランドSF-01) and the "Garland SF-02" are fictional race cars driven by Sugo Grand Prix driver Henri Claytor in the anime series Future GPX Cyber Formula.

History

2018

With the sudden absence of Hayato Kazami after his accident in 2017, the Sugo team was forced to accept the reality of a future without him, or his father's cyber system due to the unique nature of its security features. Claire Fortran former partner to the late Hiroyuki Kazami and head designer for the Sugo team set to work using her own design philosophy to build a next generation race car for the team. The Garland SF-01 as it was named made its debut in the first round of the 2018 season with newcomer to the team Henri Claytor at the wheel. However, victory was hard to come by and it wasn't till the fourth round in Italy that the car scored its maiden win. With another win in England the car seemed on its way to claiming another title for the Sugo team. A fierce fight with Aoi ZIP Formula driver Bleed Kaga meant it would come down to the final round in Japan to decide the title. While the Garland was unable to win the race, Hayato Kazami defeated Kaga allowing the young Claytor to seize his first World Championship title.

2019

The success of the SF-01 in early rounds of 2018 proved the basic design concept and lead to an improved version for 2019. The SF-02 however never lived up to the expectations of its predecessor and failed to score a victory managing only 1 podium finish. It was quickly replaced for 2020 with a vastly upgraded Garland SF-03.

Design

A strikingly different car than the Asurada, the Garland represents simplicity and reliability instead of cutting edge technology. The variable chassis system has been removed to save on weight and development and production costs. As a result the Garland does not have the versatility of the Super Asurada AKF-11, however this weight saving was translated into increased engine power and reliability over the Super Asurada AKF-11 something that translated directly into points as the only two retirements of the year were due to accident and not mechanical failure. The SF-01 was however outpaced by the end of the season leading to its retirement after only one season with an upgraded Garland SF-02 taking the field the following year.

The SF-02 is an evolution of the SF-01 and used the same basic chassis with some weight saving potential discovered during the previous year. As a result the handling was improved, but that was all. In nearly all ways it was a carbon copy of its predecessor.