Photo: FRJC

Sutekina Racing Team’s Fuma Horio won both races on his Formula Regional Japanese Championship debut at Sportsland SUGO.

The eight-car field had two practice sessions, and Bionic Jack Racing’s debutant Alfie Briggs set the pace in the first with a 1m20.022s lap to lead Birth Racing Project’s Sebastian Manson by 0.807 seconds. Manson’s team-mate Michael Sauter lowered the pace to 1m19.470s in FP2, with Manson 0.258s behind in second place. Briggs and his team-mate Jesse Lacey were both within a second of Sauter in third and fourth.

Laptimes were even quicker in qualifying, and Horio took pole for his debut race by setting a 1m19.255s in Q1. He was fastest by just 0.039s over Sauter, with a gap of 0.193s to Lacey, 0.32s to Briggs, 0.324s to Manson and 0.694s to TOM’S driver Yoshiaki Nakamura.

Manson claimed race two pole in Q2, lowering the pace further to 1m18.396s and edging Horio by 0.06s. Sauter was third fastest, 0.329s behind, and 0.003s split Nakamura and Lacey in fourth and fifth with both 0.8s slower than the poleman. “Yugo” failed to set a representative laptime in either session, but was allowed to race.

Several drivers suffered with wheelspin at the start of race one including Horio, but they managed to keep the lead into turn one and were a second ahead of Sauter by the end of the first lap. That gap had grown to 2.115s after three laps, but it took another four for it get any larger.

By lap 15 there was four seconds between the pair, but a lap later the gap was 6.125s and it then ballooned through the rest of the 22-lap race and Horio won by 12.586s. Lacey lost touch with the top two after lap five and finished 17.545s behind in third, and junior karting champion Briggs was fourth.

Nakamura passed Manson for fifth on lap 13, but then dropped behind him and Anna Inotsume on lap 17 and soon retired. “Yugo” therefore finished seventh, but was a lap down by lap nine and then lapped a second time on lap 18 as he sorely lacked pace.

Horio made a stronger start than poleman Manson in race two, and with the inside line he was able to take the lead before turn one. It took him three laps to pull a second clear this time, and he was unable to drop Manson who finished 1.715s behind. Sauter just about kept with them and took the points lead by finishing 3.149s back in third.

Briggs jumped to fourth on lap one and resisted overtake attempts from Nakamura on laps 11, 15 and 18. Lacey dropped back from the pair late on, while “Yugo” got lapped twice again.

Results round-up
Race 1 (22 laps)
1 Fuma Horio Sutekina Racing Team 29m55.940s
2 Michael Sauter Birth Racing Project +12.586s
3 Jesse Lacey Bionic Jack Racing +17.545s
4 Alfie Briggs Bionic Jack Racing +19.474s
5 Sebastian Manson Birth Racing Project +31.049s
6 Anna Inotsume Helm Motorsports +31.705s
7 “Yugo” N-Speed +2 laps
Ret Yoshiaki Nakamura TOM’S
Pole: Horio, 1m19.255s
Fastest lap: Sauter, 1m20.916s

Race 2 (22 laps)
1 Horio 29m45.747s
2 Manson +1.715s
3 Sauter +3.149s
4 Briggs +20.797s
5 Nakamura +21.317s
6 Lacey +27.569s
7 Inotsume +44.347s
8 “Yugo” +2 laps
P: Manson, 1m18.396s
FL: Sauter, 1m19.983s

Championship standings
1 Sauter 83   2 Jiei Okuzumi 61   3 Manson 53   4 Horio 50   5 Lacey 44   6 Nakamura 40   7 Inotsume 30   8 “Motoki” 26   9 Kizuki Hirota 25   10 Briggs 24

The post Fuma Horio wins twice on debut FRegional Japan weekend at Sugo appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

The 2024 Formula Regional Japanese Championship began in dramatic style at Suzuka.

Kizuki Hirota topped the weekend’s first qualifying session, setting a 1m58.902s to lead Jiei Okuzumi by 0.061 seconds. Michael Sauter was 0.27s back in third, and nobody else was within a second of pole.

Sauter lowered the pace to 1m57.747s in Q2 to earn race two pole, going fastest by 0.762s. Hirota was second, and Okuzumi was 1.163s off the pace in third as three drivers failed to lap within 110% of the pole time.

The second-best laptimes from Q1 set race three’s grid, and Okuzumi’s 1m59.217s effort earned him pole by 0.12s over Sauter. Sebastian Manson qualified third, 1.639s behind.

A slippy track meant race one started behind the safety car, and “Akita” spun down the order on lap one. Manson crashed out, and Sauter did the same on lap two.

Hirota spun from first down to seventh on lap four, which led to another driver going off, so Okuzumi led the field when racing actually began on lap five. The top three pulled away, Zhongwei Wang got into fourth then spun back down the order exiting the hairpin and the safety car returned due to Juancho Brobio crashing out.

On lap seven “Yugo” made a mistake and lost ninth place, then the next restart took place on lap eight. Hirota passed Jesse Lacey for third, and “Akita” overtook Anna Inotsume for sixth. While Okuzumi managed a gap up front, Hirota pressured Yoshiaki Nakamura for second and passed him on the last lap. However he got demoted to fifth by a 30s post-race penalty, with Nakamura and Lacey therefore completing the podium. Akita got the same penalty and dropped from fifth to eighth.

Drivers did not get in their grid spots correctly for race two, so a second formation lap was required. When the lights went out, Nakamura was one of two drivers to stall and then at turn three Inotsume crashed backwards into the barriers at speed.

The safety car appeared, and racing resumed on lap three. Sauter held the lead, and Wang had an off that left his car crabbing. Over the rest of the race a big gap formed between Sauter and the chasing Okuzumi, who passed Hirota for second on lap one. Although Hirota got back ahead on lap 10, Okuzumi reclaimed the place a lap later.

Race three also featured two formation laps, and a slow start by Sauter lost him second to Manson. There was drama at the end of lap one as “Akita” locked up entering the chicane and hit Lacey into a spin. Both eventually got moving again.

A brave move by Sauter at 130R earned him back second place on lap two, and he trailed Okuzumi by 3.4s. Hirota took fourth from Nakamura on lap three, then a big crash for Lacey on lap four brought out the safety car.

Not until lap seven did it pick up the leader, and on the lap nine restart Sauter attacked Okuzumi at turn two. Brobio spun exiting the hairpin, and Nakamura got back past Hirota. Those two traded places again on lap 10, and Sauter dived past Okuzumi for the lead at the chicane after he left the door open.

Sauter pulled away by 2.387s over the last two laps, and Nakamura reclaimed fourth when Hirota crashed out on the final lap. But Nakamura was then penalised 30s post-race, handing fourth to Wang.

Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Jiei Okuzumi Sutekina Racing Team 31m01.670s
2 Yoshiaki Nakamura TOM’S +2.102s
3 Jesse Lacey Bionic Jack Racing +19.710s
4 “Motoki” Rn-sports +29.665s
5 Kizuki Hirota Bionic Jack Racing +31.483s
6 Anna Inotsume Helm Motorsports +36.212s
7 Yorikatsu Tsujiko Ponos Racing +46.513s
8 “Akita” Abbey Racing +52.738s
9 Zhongwei Wang Sky Motorsports +1m01.758s
10 “Yugo” N-Speed +1 lap
Pole: Hirota, 1m58.902s
Fastest lap: Okuzumi, 2m00.322s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Michael Sauter Birth Racing Project 25m46.316s
2 Okuzumi +11.066s
3 Hirota +17.787s
4 “Akita” +24.688s
5 Sebastian Manson Birth Racing Project +26.072s
6 Nakamura +34.766s
7 Lacey +55.725s
8 “Motoki” +1m23.666s
9 Tsujiko +1m40.678s
10 Juancho Brobio Eagle Sports +1 lap
P: Sauter, 1m57.747s
FL: Sauter, 1m58.708s

Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Sauter 27m17.595s
2 Okuzumi +2.387s
3 Manson +11.241s
4 Wang +14.893s
5 “Motoki” +15.706s
6 Inotsume +24.040s
7 Tsujiko +26.428s
8 Nakamura +44.460s
9 “Yugo” +1m04.823s
10 Brobio +1m19.543s
P: Okuzumi, 1m59.217s
FL: Sauter, 1m58.856s

Championship standings
1 Okuzumi 61   2 Sauter 50   3 Nakamura 30   4 Motoki 26   5 Hirota 25   6 Manson 25   7 Lacey 21   8 Akita 16   9 Inotsume 16   10 Wang 14

The post Jiei Okuzumi starts FRegional Japan season at Suzuka with victory appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRegional Japan

The Formula Regional Japan season concluded at Sportsland SUGO with victories for Jiei Okuzumi and Michael Sauter, and title success for Sota Ogawa.

Enzo Trulli earned pole for race one when the nine-car field tackled qualifying, setting a 1m18.515s on his final lap to pip Sauter by 0.065s. Okuzumi was 0.39s behind in third, Kazuki Oki was 0.946s off the pace in fourth and Ogawa was 1.206s back in fifth. Neither Yoshitsugu Kondo or Sky Chen got within 110% of the pole pace and both missed race one.

Sauter had a lap good enough for pole, a 1m18.357s, deleted and Liam Sceats had his fastest lap deleted too although it had no impact on his sixth place.

There was redemption for Sauter as a 1m18.167s lap earned him race two pole by 1.439s over Okuzumi, and a 1m18.799s put him on pole for race three over Okuzumi by 0.143s. Trulli was the only other driver within a second of Sauter in that classification, 0.32s slower in third.

After several formation laps, Trulli made a bad start to race one and immediately lost the lead to Sauter. It was a four-wide battle for second going into turn one, and  Okuzumi prevailed while Trulli had a race-ending off at turn two.

The safety car came out later in the lap, with Sceats and Ogawa in third and fourth. Racing did not resume until lap five, and Sauter came under immediate pressure. He resisted several overtake attempts from Okuzumi to finish the lap 0.653s ahead.

The gaps between the six drivers on track opened up after that, and Sauter finished the 20-lapper 4.264s clear of Okuzumi. However a 10s penalty for jumping the start dropped him to fourth. Oki also got a 10s penalty, but with no impact on his fifth place.

Race two featured six cars as Trulli skipped it, and that reduced to five once Sauter retired in the pits on lap six. He had fallen from from first to fourth at the start, behind Okuzumi, Oki and Sceats, then to a lonely last on lap two some 15s behind the rest of the field.

On lap nine 2.4s covered the top four, with Oki getting within 0.42s of Okuzumi by the lap’s end. But he also had to watch Sceats in his mirrors, which prevented him from going for the lead. The gaps remained stable until lap 16 when 0.343s seperated first and second and Sceats set his personal best lap.

Okuzumi set his personal best next time by and won by 0.479s after 20 laps, with Sceats 0.96s behind.

Sauter again lost the lead at the start of race three, ending lap one 0.154s behind Okuzumi. More significantly Ogawa in fourth was ahead of sole title rival Sceats.

On lap five Sauter got back past Okuzumi, and Trulli tried following through but ended up spinning and retiring. That enabled Sauter to break three seconds clear, and he grew his gap further for a big win.

Ogawa became champion in fourth. In the race’s second half, Oki passed Sceats then hunted down Ogawa to pass him too for third.

Results
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Jiei Okuzumi Sutekina Racing Team 29m23.061s
2 Liam Sceats Sutekina Racing Team +1.938s
3 Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing +3.861s
4 Michael Sauter Bionic Jack Racing +5.736s
5 Kazuki Oki Ponos Racing +16.862s
6 Kizuku Hirota +17.515s
Ret Enzo Trulli TOM’S
DNS Yoshitsugu Kondo Rn-sports
Pole: Trulli, 1m18.515s
Fastest lap: Sauter, 1m18.842s

Race 2 (20 laps)
1 Okuzumi 26m47.300s
2 Oki +0.479s
3 Sceats +0.960s
4 Ogawa +1.927s
5 Hirota +19.561s
Ret Sauter
DNS Trulli
P: Sauter, 1m18.167s
FL: Ogawa, 1m19.643s

Race 3 (20 laps)
1 Sauter 26m45.819s
2 Okuzumi +14.675s
3 Oki +15.727s
4 Ogawa +18.069s
5 Sceats +22.786s
6 Hirota +33.558s
Ret Trulli
P: Sauter, 1m18.799s
FL: Sauter, 1m19.272s

Championship standings
1 Ogawa 243.5   2 Sceats 219.5   3 Okuzumi 145   4 Ryunosuke Sawa 98   5 Yugo Iwasawa 84.5   6 Oki 80   7 Sauter 71   8 Yuya Hiraki 55   9 Yu Kanamaru 55   10 Enzo Trulli 51

The post Ogawa becomes FRegional Japan champion as Okuzumi wins at Sugo appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

While the Formula Regional Japanese Championship grid grew from seven to 11 cars for the World Endurance Championship-supporting round at Fuji Speedway, there was limited competition as per usual.

The first practice session was cancelled due to a typhoon, and former Super Formula Lights driver Mizuki Ishizaka topped the second with a 1m38.761s lap to lead Sota Ogawa by 0.115 seconds. Ryunosuke Sawa was a further 0.021s behind, and Liam Sceats completed a top four covered by 0.377s. That session was shortened by red flags, but most drivers still managed to do at least 14 laps.

Sutekina Racing Team’s Sawa moved to the front in the wet qualifying session that set the grid for race one, a 1m51.799s earning him pole by 0.532s over Ogawa. Ishizaka was 1.632s off the pace in third, and Liam Sceats 2.339s back in fourth.

“Yugo, “Yuki” and Sky Chen were all to slow to qualifying, all three being over 12s slower than Sawa, yet they were allowed to race.

It was a similar story in qualifying for race two, where the track was again wet but laptimes were fater. Ogawa claimed his 11th pole of 2023 with a 1m49.687s lap, going 0.308s faster than next-best driver Sawa.

Sceats was the only other person within a second of the pace, and this time the three backmarkers – all competing in the Masters classification – were over 11s slower than the pole time. Regardless, they were given permission to race despite exceeding the maximum qualifying time by some margin.

Sawa converted pole into victory in race one, which was also held on a wet track, and his winning margin was smaller than what he had when taking pole as Ogawa was only 0.322s behind at the finish.

Ogawa actually led into the first corner on lap one, and held a half-second advantage over Sawa until they encountered traffic to lap in the race’s second half. That enabled Sawa to get right on Ogawa’s tail, and he tried passing into turn one on lap 12 of 15.

He could not do it, but rain then began to fall and Sawa got through at Coca Cola a lap later.

Ishizaka held off Sceats for third, and everyone else managed to lose 5.9s or more per lap to the lead fight over the course of the race. Sky Chen and “Yugo” were not only lapped, but still finished over 48s behind Sawa.

Fog descended on the circuit for the start of race two, and after a few laps it began to rain too. That led to Ogawa going off at turn one on lap three, but he managed to not lose the lead. Sawa tried attacking him on lap five but went off, then on lap six Ogawa spun away the lead anyway and Sceats was promoted to the front.

He was in battle with Ishizaka, but once the rain stopped he was able to be more comfortable in the lead and took his third win to reduce Ogawa’s points lead. Sawa recovered to third, and Ogawa retired.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Ryunosuke Sawa Sutekina Racing Team 25m05.015s
2 Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing +0.322s
3 Mizuki Ishizaka Sutekina Racing Team  +13.930s
4 Liam Sceats Sutekina Racing Team +14.958s
5 Anna Inotsume Bionic Jack Racing +1m29.218s
6 Yorikatsu Tsujiko Ponos Racing +1m37.574s
7 Toshihiro Kubota Tokaidenso +1m42.453s
8 “Motoki” Rn-sports +1m47.662s
9 “Yuki” Nilzz Racing +2m39.492s
10 Sky Chen Sky Motorsports +1 lap
Pole: Sawa, 1m51.779s
Fastest lap: Sawa, 1m37.867s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Sceats 26m23.698s
2 Ishizaka +0.820s
3 Sawa +2.710s
4 Inotsume +54.519s
5 “Motoki” +1m34.362s
6 Kubota +1 lap
7 Chen +1 lap
8 “Yugo” S2R Racing +2 laps
9 Tsujiko +2 laps
10 “Yuki” +3 laps
P: Ogawa, 1m49.687s
FL: Sawa, 1m38.372s

Championship standings
1 Ogawa 204.5   2 Sceats 176.5   3 Sawa 98   4 Yugo Iwasawa 84.5   5 Jiei Okuzumi 77   6 Yuya Hiraki 55   7 Yu Kanamaru 55   8 Enzo Trulli 51   9 Yoshitsugu Kondo 50   10 “Yuki” 41

The post Sceats wins at Fuji to reduce Ogawa’s FRegional Japan lead appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: TGR NZ

Top New Zealand single-seater team M2 Competition has set up a driver management company, and one of its first signings is headed to race in Japan.

Kaleb Ngatoa, the 2017-18 NZ Formula First runner-up and 2021 Toyota Racing Series runner-up, who claimed pole for that year’s New Zealand Grand Prix in the series, will join Sutekina Racing Team for the next Formula Regional Japanese Championship round at Suzuka on May 13/14.

The 21-year-old has spent the last two years racing in S5000, and at the start of 2023 claimed a win and a podium from a two-round run in FRegional Oceania (the new name for TRS). His Japanese racing debut will be overseen by M2 Competition Management.

“I’m really looking forward to heading over to Japan in a few weeks,” said Ngatoa. “Japan has always had a super competitive motorsport scene, especially with single-seaters. They’ve got a really [competitive] FRegional series and an established pathway with Super Formula right at the top acting as a proving ground of Formula 1.”

Fellow NZ FFirst and TRS graduate Liam Lawson, who is a Red Bull junior, is currently embarking on his rookie season in SF. He qualified third for his debut race at Fuji Speedway, which he went on to win, and finished fifth in the second race there. A fourth place at Suzuka last weekend puts him third in the standings a third of the way into the season.

“I’m really excited to be able to follow and build on what Nick [Cassidy] and Liam have done in Japan to ultimately better myself and progress my career,” added Ngatoa.

M2 team owner and engineer Mark Pilcher and former Indycar team owner Steve Horne have set up the new management firm, and Ngatoa is the second talent whose Japanese move they’ve overseen as at the start of this month Liam Sceats drove for Sutekina in the FRJC season opener at Fuji.

The teenaged Sceats came third in NZ Formula Ford and North Island FFord last year, then stepped up to FRegional Oceania with M2. He claimed three podiums en route to fourth in the standings, and finished fourth on his FRJC debut.

“What an experience. Thank you to the team and FRJC for making this all happen and to Mark Pilcher for coming along to Japan with me, overseeing this project,” Sceats said post-event.

“A little bit disappointed that I couldn’t reward the team for their efforts this weekend with a podium. But we understood that the first weekend of racing in Japan was always going to be a great challenge, having to adjust to a new track, new car, new team and a new environment here in Japan.

“This experience was huge for my career development so I will be giving it 101% back at home to get back over here in Japan for round two of the FRJC.”

There was nine cars on the grid at Fuji, four of which were eligible for Masters class honours due to having older drivers at the wheel.

The post M2 Competition sets up management company, sends Ngatoa to FRJC appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Sutekina Racing Team returned to winning form in Formula Regional Japanese Championship as it started the 2022 season with three wins for Ryunosuke Sawa at Fuji Speedway.

The team dominated the inaugural 2020 season with Sena Sakaguchi, and won one race in a part-time two-car effort last year. Sawa is its only signed driver for 2022, but that doesn’t look to be a disadvantage in a fairly weak nine-car grid.

Sawa topped both qualifying sessions at Fuji, the first by 0.488 seconds over Sota Ogawa and the second by 0.580s over former W Series racer Miki Koyama.

Ogawa stalled from the front row at the start of race one, leaving Sawa to take a dominant win. It was his third in the series, having picked up two victories as a part-timer last year with D’station Racing.

Koyama moved into second place following Ogawa’s stall, and had Yoshiaki Katayama pressuring through the race’s first half. They went side-by-side on lap six and it looked like Katayama had the better pace, but then suddenly he dropped back and ended up spending the race’s second half keeping Ogawa – who charged up the order early on following his stall – at bay for third place.

Rn-sports’ “Hirobon” finished fifth and topped the Masters classification ahead of Yuki Tanaka.

Race two took place on a wet track on Sunday and started with several laps behind the safety car. The conditions were so tricky that Ogawa actually spun to the back while the drivers lapped at a lower speed.

There was immediate drama when green flag action eventually got underway, as Sawa went wide and several cars spun on the ‘restart’ lap, but the order didn’t change at the top.

Ogawa overtook behind the safety car as he charged back up the order, and was into second before he was handed a drive-through penalty. That gave Sawa a handy gap over Koyama to win, as Ogawa fell to fifth and recovered to a distant fourth in a shortened race.

Yorikatsu Tsujiko, chief executive officer of the PONOS video game company, was the only retiree in his self-branded TOM’S-run car but was still classified.

The track was still wet for race three, meaning another safety car start. Sawa was untouchable once racing began, streaking away for a 20.253s win over Ogawa.

Results
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Ryunosuke Sawa Sutekina Racing Team 24m40.422s
2 Miki Koyama Super License +7.361s
3 Yoshiaki Katayama Team LeMans w/ Okayama Team +11.626s
4 Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing +13.350s
5 “Hirobon” Rn-sports +36.647s
6 Yuki Tanaka Eagle Sports +41.421s
7 Masaru Miura CMS +48.221s
8 Nobuhiro Imada B-MAX Racing +56.884s
9 Yorikatsu Tsujiko TOM’S +1 lap
Pole: Sawa, 1m38.001s
Fastest lap: Sawa, 1m38.093s

Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Sawa 31m58.132s
2 Koyama +2.471s
3 Katayama +3.799s
4 Ogawa +43.824s
5 “Hirobon” +57.568s
6 Imada +1m35.650s
7 Miura +2m10.992s
8 Tanaka +1 lap
Ret Tsujiko
P: Sawa, 1m36.861s
FL: Sawa, 1m59.968s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Sawa 30m24.876s
2 Ogawa +20.253s
3 Koyama +22.570s
4 Katayama +34.701s
5 “Hirobon” +59.722s
6 Tanaka +1m49.220s
7 Imada +1m49.750s
8 Miura +1 lap
9 Tsujiko +3 laps
P: Sawa, 1m38.459s
FL: Sawa, 1m57.170s

Championship standings
1 Sawa 75   2 Koyama 51   3 Ogawa 42   4 Katayama 42   5 Hirobon 30   6 Tanaka 20   7 Imada 18   8 Miura 16   9 Tsujiko 6

The post Ryunosuke Sawa starts FRegional Japan season with triple Fuji win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Sena Sakaguchi ended the first ever Formula Regional Japanese Championship season at Autopolis with the title and an unbeaten run of 11 wins from 11 starts.

The Sutekina Racing Team driver had his run of poles ended by TOM’S rival Yuga Furutani in qualifying, which ran to a new format of a single 30-minute session and with the grids for races one and two set by the fastest and second-fastest laptimes of each driver.

Furutani’s run on new tyres at the end of qualifying put him past Sutekina returnee Yu Kanamarau for race one pole by just 0.015 seconds, and ahead of Sakaguchi by 0.017s for race two pole.

That advantage came to nothing in race one, as Furutani stalled and fell to the back of the five-car field while former Formula V8 3.5 driver Kanamaru raced into the lead.

It didn’t take long for Furutani to work his way into the top three, passing the third Sutekina-run car of Miku Ikejima and four-time Super Formula champion Satoshi Motoyama – making his single-seater racing return with Team Goh.

Kanamaru held a comfortable early lead, before Sakaguchi and Furutani started to close in as the race entered its second half and Kanamaru had to defend.

The overtake for the lead came at the start of lap nine, with Sakaguchi taking the outside line of the first corner. He remained side-by-side with Kanamaru all the way down the straight to turn 3, where he completed the move Furutani also almost slipped past.

It took a few more laps for Furutani to claim second, getting by quite forcefully at turn 1, and he then had to spend the remaining laps pursuing Sakaguchi. They finished just under half a second apart, while Kanamaru coasted to third.

With victory Sakaguchi was also crowned champion, while Motoyama’s return resulted in a fourth place finish.

Furutani again stalled from pole in the season finale. This time he got the car off the line, slowly, and was still in fourth by the time they reached the opening corner, but Sakaguchi was already leading and on the way to another win.

Furutani fought his way past Motoyama for third at turn 2, then passed Kanamaru for second down the inside of turn 1 on the next lap. He was unable to hunt down Sakaguchi in time to challenge for the win, but did set fastest lap in his pursuit.

Motoyama tracked down Kanamaru and passed him for the final podium spot, but his racing return ended in the gravel with two laps to go after going off at turn 11.

Results round-up

The post Sakaguchi wins inaugural Formula Regional Japan title at Autopolis appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula

Four-time Super Formula champion Satoshi Motoyama is set to make a shock return to single-seater racing in the Formula Regional Japanese Championship season finale.

Only five drivers are listed on the entry list for the season-ending round of the Regional Formula 3 series at Autopolis on December 12/13, with Motoyama listed as competing for Team Goh.

The Japanese squad, which won the 2004 Le Mans 24 Hours, was revived last year to enter Alex Palou and Seiji Ara in Super GT300. It then moved across to IndyCar for 2020 in a partnership with Dale Coyne Racing to run Palou.

• Feature: 10 outstanding Japanese drivers who never reached F1

Motoyama raced in Super GT between 1996 and 2018, and won three titles with Nissan. His single-seater career was capped by 27 wins and four titles in SF, as well as Formula 1 tests, before he became the executive advisor of Nissan’s motorsport division and team principal of B-MAX Racing’s SF programme.

The 49-year-old’s first years in junior single-seaters took place in the early 1990s, and culminated with one win and the title runner-up spot in Japanese Formula 3 (now known as Super Formula Lights) in 1995.

Besides Motoyama, the only other drivers currently set to race at Autopolis next weekend are Sutekina Racing Team trio Sena Sakaguchi, Yu Kanamaru and Miku Ikejima, and TOM’s protege Yuga Furutani.

Sakaguchi leads the championship standings by 38 points over Furutani, with 50 available over the two races of the season finale.

Super License’s Tomoki Takahashi is currently third in the points, and can’t fall down the standings even if he doesn’t turn up.

Kanamaru, who competed in the championship’s first ever event at Fuji Speedway in August, needs to score 34 points to jump from ninth to fourth in the standings.

Motoyama in his youth

The post Super Formula legend Satoshi Motoyama set to race in Regional F3 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Regional Japanese Championship

A double win at Okayama was the latest part of Sena Sakaguchi’s domination of Formula Regional Japanese Championship’s inaugural seaon, and leaves little to be done in the title decider.

The Sutekina Racing Team driver took pole for both races, and had to defend straight away in the first one from title rival Yuga Futurani. As they got to the first corner it all went wrong for Furutani though and he dropped to fourth, all but guaranteeing Sakaguchi victory.

It took a few laps for him to get back up to second place, by which point it was too late to rival Sakaguchi and he took his eighth win from eight starts.

Furutani didn’t lose places at Turn 1 at the start of race two, but he had even less of an answer to Sakaguchi’s pace and set-up tweaks between the two races enabled the leader to have a faster car and he won by 5.142s. There’s now 38 points between the pair at the top of the standings, with 50 available in next month’s season finale.

Sakaguchi’s team-mate Mizuki Ishizaka completed the podium in both races, finishing 17.687s behind in race one and 26.061s back in race two.

Results
Race 1 (17 laps)
1 Sena Sakaguchi Sutekina Racing Team 24m54.570s
2 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +2.952s
3 Mizuki Ishizaka Sutekina Racing Team +17.687s
4 Ai Miura Super License +20.078s
5 Takashi Hata Super Licence +49.478s
6 Masayuki Ueda Rn-sports +53.916s
7 DRAGON B-MAX Racing +1m08.739s
8 Syuji B-MAX Racing +1 lap
9 Nobuhiro Imada Eagle Sports +1 lap
Pole: Sakaguchi, 1m26.499s
Fastest lap: Furutani, 1m26.875s

Race 2 (20 laps)
1 Sakaguchi 29m03.431s
2 Furutani +5.142s
3 Ishizaka +26.061s
4 Miura +29.664s
5 DRAGON  +59.573s
6 Hata +1m03.302s
7 Ueda +1m14.634s
8 Imada +1m17.241s
9 Syuji +1m19.587s
P: Sakaguchi, 1m25.897s
FL: Sakaguchi, 1m26.638s

Championship standings
1 Sakaguchi 225   2 Furutani 187   3 Tomoki Takahashi 139   4 Ueda 79   5 Imada 77   6 DRAGON 76   7 Yuki Nemoto 58   8 Yu Kanamaru 45   9 Takuro Shihohara 43   10 Syuji 41

The post Sakaguchi closes in on Formula Regional Japan title with Okayama wins appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formual Regional Japanese Championship

Sena Sakaguchi moved into the Formula Regional Japanese Championship points lead with a total domination of round four at Twin Ring Motegi.

The Sutekina Racing Team driver set the pace in wet qualifying, and was untouchable in both races against an eight-car grid of limited quality.

TOM’S protege Yuga Furutani was a very distant second place to Sakaguchi in both races, the latter of which came after he stalled on the grid due to the track being damp.

Super Formula Lights regular Ai Miura was the only other non-gentleman driver in either race, and she rounded out the race one podium some 23s behind Sakaguchi. In race two she span early on and repairs proved futile so she went to the pits to retire.

The gentleman class winner therefore made the podium, with Masayuki Ueda picking up the honours while his rivals Siyuji and Nobuhiro Imada got lapped by Sakaguchi. Fourth place in race one though meant Imada is now up to fourth in the overall standings.

There are only three drivers in title contention entering the final two rounds, with Sakaguchi leading Furutani by 24 points and the absent Tomoki Takahashi by 36 points.

Results
Race 1 (14 laps)
1 Sena Sakaguchi Sutekina Racing Team 25m24.981s
2 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +9.533s
3 Ai Miura Super License +23.299s
4 Nobuhiro Imada Eagle Sports +34.752s
5 Masaru Miura CMS +35.665s
6 DRAGON B-MAX Racing +42.994s
7 Masayuki Ueda Rn-sports +43.427s
8 Syuji B-MAX Racing +1m30.954s
Pole: Sakaguchi, 1m59.692s
Fastest lap: Sakaguchi, 1m48.067s

Race 2 (17 laps)
1 Sakaguchi 31m07.455s
2 Furutani +7.906s
3 Ueda +1m18.251s
4 Syuji +1 lap
5 Imada +1 lap
Ret M Miura
Ret A Miura
Ret DRAGON
P: Sakaguchi, 1m59.623s
FL: Sakaguchi, 1m47.881s

Championship standings
1 Sakaguchi 175   2 Furutani 151   3 Tomoki Takahashi 139   4 Imada 71   5 Ueda 65   6 DRAGON 60   7 Yuki Nemoto 58   8 Yu Kanamaru 45   9 Takuro Shinohara 43   10 Syuji 35

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