Photo: FRJC

Toyota junior Yuzuki Miura narrowly missed out on a clean sweep of victories in the Formula Regional Japanese Championship’s season opening weekend at Suzuka.

Races one and three were dominated by Miura but the TOM’S driver was edged out by Ponos Racing driver Ryota Horachi in race two.

Miura started strongly from third, leapfrogging Horachi and polesitter Hibiki Komatsu to lead into the first turn.

Horachi however quickly dispatched Masan Muto, who had jumped him at the start, and began to pile the pressure on Miura.

Despite sitting within half a second of the leader for almost the second half of the race, Horachi’s attempts proved futile as Miura held him off by just 0.083 seconds to secure victory. Muto rounded out the podium finishers with Komatsu nine tenths adrift of him at the chequered flag.

Race two proved to be a redemption race for Horachi as he converted pole position into victory, having edged out Miura by 0.064s in the faster second qualifying session.

He fended off the similarly liveried car of Miura into the first turn after the lights went out and resolutely held the lead for the remainder of the race.

Miura finished seven tenths adrift of his teammate at the chequered flag with Komatsu rounding out the podium having started third on the grid.

In race three Miura returned to the top step, converting his pole position while Horachi fought his way up from sixth on the grid to fourth.

This was a more comfortable race for Miura, as he led the field away at lights out to finish a second and a half clear of the field.

Muto narrowly avoided a dramatic crash at lights out as the Toyota-based TOM’S driver failed to move away from his second-place grid slot at lights out. The field narrowly avoided the 16-year-old who managed to recover to fifth.

Having failed to match the pace of his team-mate Horachi up to this point, Ponos Racing driver Kento Omiya came home 1.426s behind Miura in second and 1.651s clear of Lin Chenghua, who profited from Muto’s stall at the start to claim third.

That meant Miura finished the opening weekend with an early series lead of 13 points ahead of the championship’s return to Suzuka for round two in May.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Yuzuki Miura TOM’S 23m07.248s
2 Ryota Horachi Ponos Racing +0.083s
3 Masana Muto TOM’S +5.450s
4 Hibiki Komatsu Rn-sports +6.387s
5 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +7.214s
6 Lin Chenghua Ragno Motor Sports +11.552s
7 Li Xuanyu Team LeMans +21.473s
8 Rio Shimono Dr Dry Racing Team +24.534s
9 Makato Akita Abbey Racing +33.321s
10 Yutaka Toriba AiWin +34.489s
Pole: Komatsu, 1m54.909s
Fastest lap: Horachi, 1m54.401s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Horachi 23m06.640s
2 Miura +0.706s
3 Komatsu +5.103s
4 Muto +8.678s
5 Omiya +8.982s
6 Chenghua +10.515s
7 Akita +19.390s
8 Shimono +23.866s
9 Xuanyu +28.212s
10 Masayuki Ueda Rn-sports +46.155s
P: Horachi, 1m54.389s
FL: Miura, 1m54.904s

Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Miura 23m10.928s
2 Omiya +1.426s
3 Chenghua +3.077s
4 Horachi +3.907s
5 Muto +10.843s
6 Komatsu +12.304s
7 Shimono +17.936s
8 Xuanyu +19.821s
9 Akita +26.204s
10 Toriba +32.694s
P: Miura, 1m55.882s
FL: Muto, 1m55.015s

Championship standings
1 Miura 68   2 Horachi 55   3 Omiya 38   4 Muto 37   5 Komatsu 35   6 Chenghua 31   7 Shimono 14   8 Xuanyu 12   9 Akita 10   10 Toriba 2

The post Toyota junior Miura wins twice at Suzuka to claim early FRJC lead appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula

Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced its motorsport programmes for 2026, including which drivers it will be backing and powering in single-seaters.

At the top of the pyramid in Japan’s Super Formula championship, three Toyota-powered teams have signed rookies.

World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera will join KCMG, Rikuto Kobayashi will race for TGM Grand Prix after contesting an event with Team Impul this year, and Charlie Wurz will drive the sole car of the returning Team Goh.

Kobayashi finished 16th on his SF debut at Twin Ring Motegi in April, with his main programme this year having been the third-tier Super Formula Lights championship where he was third in the standings after being runner-up in 2024.

He also raced in sportscar series Super GT’s GT300 class in 2025, coming third in the standings, and will be promoted to the top GT500 class next year with Cerumo.

Wurz, son of ex-Formula 1 driver Alexander, was Formula Regional Oceania champion in 2023 then was a race-winner in Euroformula before spending two seasons in the FIA Formula 3 Championship and coming 13th this year with two podiums.

He has some sportscar experience too, and will join the Super GT grid with the Toyota-powered Apr team in the GT300 class. Kazuhisa Urabe, who was 10th in SF Lights and third in the FRegional Japanese Championship this year, will joining Inging in Super GT300.

Wurz and his younger brother Oscar, who was 2024 Formula 4 Central European Zone champion and 18th in Eurocup-3 this year, will become Toyota juniors for 2026.

Their father was a World Endurance Championship race-winner with Toyota, and Oscar will race for TOM’S in SF Lights next year as team-mate to fellow Toyota juniors Kiyoshi Umegaki and Tokiya Suzuki. The pair came one-two in this year’s FRegional Japanese Championship, while in Japanese F4 the title was won by Suzuki and Umegaki was seventh in the standings.

Vacating his SF Lights at TOM’S is Yuki Sano, who was 2025 championship runner-up and finished ninth in the FIA FRegional World Cup-awarding Macau Grand Prix.

Next year the Toyota junior will step back down to FRegional, having won all four of the FRJC races he contested in 2024, full-time as he joins R-ace GP in the European and Middle East championships.

Toyota’s racing school runs a team in Japanese F4, and its line-up next year will consist of Masaki Hamabe, Buntaro Igarashi, Yuzuki Miura, Masana Muto, Ryo Sakai and Tomoki Terashima.

Of those six, only Miura and Muto will be Toyota juniors. They came 12th and 15th in the standings this year, each with one podium, and will have double programmes as they will also race for TOM’S in FRJC.

2026 TGR Driver Challenge Programme members (single-seaters)

The post Rikuto Kobayashi and Charlie Wurz land Super Formula seats for 2026 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Kazuhisa Urabe set the pace in Super Formula Lights post-season testing at Suzuka this week.

The TOM’S driver set the benchmark pace on his penultimate lap of the opening session on Tuesday morning, a 1m51.094s putting him 0.66 seconds clear of team-mate Sho Tsuboi whose personal best had been set in the middle of his run plan.

Tsuboi was one of four drivers from Japan’s top-tier single-seater series Super Formula to contest the test, along with Nobuharu Matsushita (Delightworks Racing), Atsushi Miyake (B-MAX Racing) and Mitsunori Takaboshi (B-MAX).

Matsushita was third fastest in session one, and Eurocup-3 racer Oscar Wurz was fourth for TOM’S and the last driver within a second of the pace. His older brother Charlie Wurz is understood to be in contention to step up from the FIA Formula 3 Championship to SF next year with Team Goh, and drove for them in that championship post-season test last week.

Urabe, who was 10th in SF Lights and third in the FRegional Japanese Championship this year, also drove in the SF test.

B-MAX’s Evan Giltaire set the quickest laptime of the afternoon, a 1m51.398s, as a second covered the top six but those six drivers were split by 0.283s. Giltaire led TOM’S driver Kiyoshi Umegaki by 0.072s and Matsushita by 0.112s.

The French teenager was FRegional Middle East champion at the start of 2025 then fifth in the FRegional European Championship in his third year with ART Grand Prix, and is understood to have already secured a step up to SF Lights for 2026.

Five drivers improved their pace in Wednesday’s sessions, while six drivers joined the entry list after missing the previous day’s running. This included Akshay Bohra, who came sixth in FREC and 14th in FRME this year as a category rookie and is evaluating multiple options for next year. He was part of Porsche Carrera Cup Asia’s talent pool assessment last month.

Giltaire posted a 1m51.498s late in session three to top the timesheet by 0.135s over Umegaki, and this time nine drivers were within a second of the pace. Just 0.015s split Tokiya Suzuki (TOM’S) and Yusuke Mitsui (Delightworks) in third and fourth.

Urabe’s advantage at the top in the test’s overall classification was reduced in session four, in which he was only eighth fastest.

Giltaire was fastest once again, and a late improvement to 1m51.174s put him 0.08s off Urabe’s session one benchmark. Umegaki was 0.145s behind Giltaire, putting him third overall, and Suzuki was a further 0.031s behind to be fourth fastest overall in the test.

Fifth in the session and sixth overall was B-MAX’s Yuto Nomura, who won the 2025 SF Lights title so will not be staying in the paddock next year.

Test results

The post Urabe leads Giltaire in SF Lights test teasing 2026 driver moves appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Kiyoshi Umegaki wrapped up the Formula Regional Japanese Championship title in last weekend’s season finale at Suzuka.

His rival and TOM’S team-mate Tokiya Suzuki started the weekend ahead as he pipped Umegaki to race one pole by 0.087 seconds. B-MAX Racing’s Kazuhisa Urabe was third, 0.109s behind, and 0.011s split Kento Omiya (Ponos Racing) and Hibiki Komatsu (Rn-sports) in fourth and fifth.

A 1m55.160s in Q2 earned Urabe race two pole by 0.165s over Umegaki, with Suzuki a further 0.116s back. Omiya and Komatsu were fourth and fifth again.

Drivers’ second-best laptimes set race three’s grid, and Komatsu claimed his maiden pole by 0.137s. Just 0.039s then split Urabe, Suzuki, Umegaki and Omiya in the top five.

It was sunny for race one on Saturday afternoon, and Suzuki swept to the inside at the start to cover off Umegaki. That left the outside line free for Urabe to pass the points leader for second, and he spent the rest of the race holding him off while Suzuki built a 4.08s lead to close to within 13.5 points of Umegaki.

Komatsu lost out to Rn-sports’ Yu Oda on lap one, but got back past on lap two and was just 0.351s behind Omiya at race-end.

Ragno Motor Sport’s Chenghua Lin was seventh until striking trouble mid-race and ending his day in the pits.

Race two was early the next morning, and this time Lin’s troubles struck before the start and ruled him out.

Omiya and Suzuki got either side of Umegaki off the line, with Suzuki taking second on the outside then weaving his way to turn one to prevent Omiya from maximising the inside line. It was side-by-side for third through the first two corners, and Umegaki managed to nose back ahead.

Suzuki challenged poleman Urabe into turn one on lap two, and was on his gearbox on lap three as Urabe weaved down the pit straight. At the final chicane there was an attempted dive by Suzuki, and when they reached turn one on lap four he went to the outside. They banged wheels, Suzuki went off and into the barriers at high speed, and the safety car was summoned.

Urabe immediately built a one-second gap on the restart, then gradually added to that gap while trading fastest laps with the trio behind. Umegaki clinched title by finishing second, ahead of Omiya and Kamatsu.

Race three began with Urabe taking the lead on the inside, but Komatsu’s pace meant he was all over Urabe on several laps. He tried the outside at turn one on lap four, forced Urabe into defending on lap six, and on the last lap almost touched the rear of the leader’s car into the chicane.

Suzuki kept them in sight initially, before being gapped significantly in the last few laps. Umegaki was fourth, inherited after Omiya stopped on-track as lap two began.

Results round-up
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S 25m27.655s
2 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +4.088s
3 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +4.834s
4 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +7.103s
5 Hibiki Komatsu Rn-sports +7.454s
6 Yu Oda Rn-sports +22.978s
7 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +30.088s
8 “Akita” Abbey Racing +40.537s
9 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +44.038s
10 Shoichiro Akamatsu Eagle Sport +46.799s
Pole: Suzuki, 1m55.928s
Fastest lap: Suzuki, 1m56.949s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Urabe 27m22.925s
2 Umegaki +1.573s
3 Omiya +2.192s
4 Komatsu +2.597s
5 Oda +17.353s
6 Inotsume +22.023s
7 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +26.732s
8 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +26.732s
9 Irie +28.945s
10 “Yugo” N-Speed +1m18.301s
P: Urabe, 1m55.160s
FL: Komatsu, 1m57.282s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Urabe 25m41.282s
2 Komatsu +0.674s
3 Suzuki +4.380s
4 Umegaki +6.026s
5 Oda +17.710s
6 Chenghua Lin Ragno Motor Sport +18.361s
7 Toriba +28.715s
8 Inotsume +30.931s
9 Jia +34.546s
10 “Akita” +35.862s
P: Komatsu, 1m56.195s
FL: Komatsu, 1m58.172s

Championship standings
1 Umegaki 280   2 Suzuki 251.5   3 Urabe 187   4 Omiya 184.5   5 Oda 101.5   6 Inotsume 75   7 Lin 70   8 Toriba 70   9 Jia 65   10 Irie 49

The post Umegaki wins FRJC title in Suzuka finale after rival Suzuki crashes appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Macau Grand Prix

Prema has announced its line-up for this year’s Macau Grand Prix, which features a two-time winner of the event.

The 2025 edition will be the second to run for Formula Regional cars, and award the FIA FRegional World Cup. It takes place on November 13-16, the same weekend as the Eurocup-3 season finale.

Driving Prema’s three cars in Macau will be Rashid Al Dhaheri, Charles Leong and Freddie Slater.

Al Dhaheri came sixth in FRegional Middle East this year and is currently seventh in the FRegional European Championship, both in Prema-run cars and with Slater as his team-mate. He was FRME runner-up and leads FREC.

In 2024, Al Dhaheri was disqualified from the Macau GP but was third in the supporting Formula 4 race the year before. Slater was ninth in that F4 race, and was classified 13th in last year’s grand prix.

Leong has been busy racing in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia in recent years, and has contested the Macau GP five times in his career. The local talent’s first two entries into the race were during its Formula 3 era, then he starred when it switched to being a race for F4 cars.

He took pole, won the qualification race and the main race in both 2020 and ’21, then in 2022 qualified third, gained one place in the qualification race and finished on the grand prix podium in third.

R-ace GP ran Ugo Ugochukwu to victory in the inaugural FRegional World Cup, and the French team will be attempting to defend its victory with Enzo Deligny, Matteo De Palo and Jin Nakamura.

Deligny and De Palo are currently fighting Slater for the FREC title, and came fifth and 19th respectively in FRME. Nakamura was 10th in FRME and sits 10th in the FREC standings with one round to go.

At last year’s Macau GP, Deligny finished fourth, Nakamura retired and De Palo was disqualified.

Another winning team on the grid is TOM’S, which will field an all-Japanese line-up of Yuki Sano and Tokiya Suzuki.

Sano is currently second in his home country’s F3-level Super Formula Lights championship, and Suzuki sits second in the FRegional Japanese Championship standings with one round remaining.

Pinnacle Motorsport and Sainteloc Racing will also only be entering two cars each rather than three.

Mari Boya and Theophile Nael, who came third and eighth respectively in the FIA F3 Championship this year, will drive for Pinnacle. Nael was disqualified on his Macau GP debut in 2024, while Boya finished seventh after coming fourth in 2023.

Sainteloc has two Macau debutants: James Egozi and Egozi Tangavelou.

Egozi began 2025 by coming third in the Eurocup-3 winter series, and is currently seventh in the main championship. He could drop out of the top 10 in the standings by missing the final round to race in Macau.

Tangavelou was fourth in Eurocup-3 last year, and claimed a podium in its non-championship event. His 2025 has been split between part-time campaigns in USF Pro 2000 and then Eurocup-3.

The post Charles Leong to pursue a third Macau GP win with Prema appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Kiyoshi Umegaki grew his Formula Regional Japanese Championship lead by winning both races at Fuji Speedway on September 27.

His title rival Tokiya Suzuki topped practice, setting a 1m37.505s to lead Kento Omiya by 0.071 seconds and Umegaki by 0.095s.

The gap between them grew in qualifying, with Suzuki posting a 1m37.316s in Q1 to beat Umegaki to race one pole by 0.181s. Kazuhisa Urabe was 0.548s behind, and Omiya 0.726s off pole in fourth.

Umegaki responded in Q2, improving to 1m36.470s to pip Suzuki to race two pole by 0.083s. Urabe and Ai Miura, the 2021 FRJC runner-up, were 0.682s and 0.94s behind.

The top two were messy off the line in race one, and two drivers stalled at the back. Suzuki led into the opening corner, and would never concede first place. However his lead never grew further than 1.56s, and was 0.647s at the finish when a five-second penalty for track limits abuse meant he lost victory to Umegaki anyway.

Urabe lost third to Omiya on lap one, but reclaimed it around the outside of turn one on lap 12 of 15. Miura was on their tail thereon, but could not attempt any moves.

Chenghua Lin starting chasing Yu Oda for sixth on lap five, and got the move done into turn one next time by, and further back Anna Inotsume was busy attacking Hideaki Irie for ninth. They finally got by on lap 11 under braking for turn one.

The race’s most dramatic moment was on lap two, when “Akita” pitted with a broken front wing.

Suzuki had a slow start to race two and came under attack from Urabe through the first two corners. Soon he shook him off and filled Umegaki’s mirrors until lap 12 of 15 when he spun and dropped behind Urabe.

Starting the final lap, Urabe weaved to defend from Suzuki. He did not actually attempt an overtake until far later into the lap, then again at the finish thanks to the slipstream. He finished just 0.06s behind, with Umegaki 11.563s up the road.

Omiya lost fourth on lap eight when his rear-right wheel came off, promoting Miura into the position. Lin was fifth, having passed Oda into turn one on lap two, and “Akita” was seventh.

Zhanbin Jia overtook Shoichiro Akamatsu on lap five after forcing an error out of them through lots of pressure, then was in a four-car group. He got ahead of Irie after going side-by-side into turn one on lap eight, then Irie attacked him in return two laps later. Irie did so again at the end, but Jia held on by 0.05s.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S 24m28.449s
2 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S +4.353s
3 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +10.497s
4 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +12.046s
5 Ai Miura Aiwin +12.781s
6 Chenghua Lin Ragno Motor Sport +21.722s
7 Yu Oda Rn-sports +24.342s
8 Shoichiro Akamatsu Eagle Sport +33.998s
9 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +41.035s
10 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +42.520s
Pole: Suzuki, 1m37.316s
Fastest lap: Umegaki, 1m37.372s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Umegaki 24m24.543s
2 Urabe +11.563s
3 Suzuki +11.623s
4 Miura +15.497s
5 Lin +22.630s
6 Oda +24.576s
7 “Akita” Abbey Racing +34.136s
8 Inotsume +38.479s
9 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +45.291s
10 Irie +45.341s
P: Umegaki, 1m36.470s
FL: Suzuki, 1m37.136s

Championship standings
1 Umegaki 235   2 Suzuki 211.5   3 Omiya 157.5   4 Urabe 119   5 Oda 73.5   6 Lin 62   7 Yutaka Toriba 60   8 Jia 57   9 Inotsume 57   10 Irie 45

The post Umegaki pulls away from Suzuki in FRJC title fight with Fuji double appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Kiyoshi Umegaki took the Formula Regional Japanese Championship lead by winning twice at Sportsland Sugo last weekend.

Ponos Racing’s Kento Omiya was quickest in practice, leading TOM’S title contenders Tokiya Suzuki and Umegaki by 0.1 and 0.189 seconds respectively.

Erstwhile points leader Suzuki topped qualifying, beating Umegaki to race one pole by 0.189s and race three pole by 0.139s (with his second-best laptime) in Q1. In Q2 he became the only driver to break into the 1m16s, with Umegaki 0.272s behind and securing second by just 0.004s over Omiya.

B-MAX Racing’s Zhanbin Jia qualified fourth for all three races, and “Yugo” was a non-qualifier due to being over 7.7s off the pace but still raced.

Suzuki built a lead so quickly in race one that he was able to spend a considerable portion of the first two laps weaving to warm his tyres.

Omiya passed Umegaki, and on lap four the trio bunched up as Yu Oda got beached in a gravel trap and the safety car appeared.

Suzuki weaved again after racing resumed on lap seven, and Omiya went deep at turn one and almost conceded second.

The next moment of drama was on lap 11, as Yutaka Toriba went slightly off at turn one and dropped from fifth to seventh before spinning at turn three as he tried reclaiming a position. He spun again on the penultimate lap.

Suzuki won by 7.62s, while Umegaki stuck with Omiya who had a slight off on lap 15 but was still able to finish the 22-lap race 0.563s ahead.

Suzuki was late to launch in race two, and Umegaki was alongside him on the inside before the opening corner. He got fully ahead by turn two.

Umegaki had to defend down the pit straight as lap two began, and Suzuki had a look down the inside at turn one. He could not do the same next time by due to Omiya being close behind, and he then made a mistake at turn two.

The top two began gapping Omiya on lap seven, and Suzuki remained in Umegaki’s slipstream. On lap 11 he dived past at Horseback corner, but went too deep and Umegaki immediately reclaimed the lead.

Umegaki was defensive as lap 12 began, and into Horseback on lap 16 but locked up. Suzuki made a failed turn one lunge on lap 18, and did not attack again.

Omiya finished 3.6s behind, and Jia soaked up pressure from Toriba before he had to defend from Oda late on.

Umegaki earned his fifth win and the points lead in race three. Suzuki had a big gap on the formation lap so his tyres had cooled by the time the other drivers lined up for the start, and with an awful start he dropped behind Umegaki and Omiya.

They ran as a trio until Umegaki pulled away slightly in the race’s second half, while Oda passed Inotsume into turn one on lap four then hunted down Jia before taking fourth from him at turn one on lap 14.

Inotsume held off Irie from lap nine until the final lap when he got past despite going off before turn three.

Results round-up
Race 1 (22 laps)
1 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S 30m52.645s
2 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +7.620s
3 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +8.183s
4 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +26.455s
5 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +27.065s
6 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +32.516s
7 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +1m26.174s
8 “Yugo” N-Speed +1 lap
Ret Yu Oda Rn-sports
Pole: Suzuki, 1m17.231s
Fastest lap: Suzuki, 1m17.693s

Race 2 (22 laps)
1 Umegaki 28m42.983s
2 Suzuki +1.191s
3 Omiya +3.648s
4 Jia +30.948s
5 Toriba +31.666s
6 Oda +32.024s
7 Irie +36.518s
9 Inotsume +52.976s
9 “Yugo” +1 lap
P: Suzuki, 1m16.802s
FL: Suzuki, 1m17.677s

Race 3 (22 laps)
1 Umegaki 28m37.706s
2 Omiya +1.769s
3 Suzuki +2.224s
4 Oda +27.599s
5 Jia +38.070s
6 Irie +42.571s
7 Inotsume +43.017s
8 Toriba +43.261s
9 “Yugo” +1 lap
P: Suzuki, 1m17.439s
FL: Suzuki, 1m17.574s

Championship standings
1 Umegaki 185   2 Suzuki 178.5   3 Omiya 145.5   4 Kazuhisa Urabe 86   5 Toriba 60   6 Oda 59.5   7 Jia 55   8 Inotsume 51   9 Chenghua Lin 44   10 Irie 43

The post Umegaki takes FRegional Japan points lead by winning twice at Sugo appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Fotospeedy

Euroformula is committed to continuing being an alternative to FIA F3 for drivers based in Europe, but there’s now another Spanish-run third-tier single-seater series on the continent seeking the same market space

The pyramid to Formula 1 can sometimes be a tricky one to draw out, since Formula 2 and Formula 3 are now the names of spec championships rather than actual formulas, and Formula 4 is actually the fifth-tier category below Formula Regional.

This is all ignoring the Road to Indy, where there are open-wheel cars going from the second down to the fifth tier and all designed to prepare drivers for IndyCar. The third and fourth tiers there aren’t really comparable to Europe’s.

The F3-level third tier currently consists of the FIA F3 Championship and Euroformula (with Japan’s Super Formula Lights series using the same cars) for contemporary machinery, then there are some series still using the last generation of F3 cars.

FRegional, and championships using FRegional-based cars, fill the fourth tier. The category is incorporated into the name of all the FIA-certified championships except for the planned AU3.

Launched as FRegional Australia but rebranded before getting underway, it cancelled its pre-season test and inaugural race event at late notice this May due to an issue with shipping cars from New Zealand. It also left it very late to cancel what would have been round two in June. Last month it should have raced at Sandown, but instead the 2025 season was called off.

The other FRegional-spec series without the name is Ultimate Cup Series’ Formula Cup, which uses the Tatuus T-318.

That car has been the design inspiration or basis of several other chassis from the Italian manufacturer, including the F3-T318 used in Eurocup-3, FRegional Oceania’s FT-60 and for the more bespoke MSV GB3-025 raced in GB3 to ensure it remains on par with European rivals.

Photo: Fotocar13

GB3 had previously used a heavily upgraded Tatuus design that sat between FRegional and F4 in performance, and which was upgraded again to be reused this year in the formerly F4-spec GB4. In 2026, Britain has a de facto fourth-tier single-seater championship in GB3, one that sits just below in GB4, and then the truly fifth-tier British F4.

There will be lots of car changes in FRegional next year, as both Tatuus and Ligier introduce second-generation chassis.

Eurocup-3 will not be adopting the new Tatuus T-326, since it will instead be adopting a whole new technical ruleset.

Last week it announced it will be becoming a third-tier series from 2026 onwards, and will do so by switching to the ‘new’ Dallara 326 car with power supply from TOM’S-developed 1.6-litre turbocharged Toyota units.

The ‘326’ designation belongs to a bodykit in development for the six-year-old F3-level Dallara 320 car, and which will be remarkably close in specification to the ‘324’ bodykit introduced to SF Lights last year and in Euroformula this season.

Both of those championships also exclusively run the TOM’S engines, and Eurocup-3 has hired Engiser 101 to be its tuning partner for when it introduces them. The electronics will be the same, and the similarities extend to the GT Sport-run Euroformula and Eurocup-3 both being run by Spanish promoters.

On technical aspects, the main difference next year may well be tyres. Euroformula runs on Pirellis, Eurocup-3 will use a new compound from Hankook, and SF Lights is yet to name a supplier for after its current two-year deal with Kumho.

Since its launch in 2023, Eurocup-3 has done well to establish itself against the immensely popular FRegional European Championship with teams and drivers. Now it has its sights set on Euroformula, and arguably FIA F3 too, and what has been announced already about their 2026 seasons supports that.

2026 calendars

FIA F3 will support F1 for all 10 of its rounds next year, with street races in Melbourne, Monaco and Madrid’s new circuit.

The eight-round Eurocup-3 schedule will feature five of next year’s F1 tracks, including the planned ‘Madring’. Its race weekend there will take place in August, several weeks before F1 visits and will possibly make it the first ever championship to race on it. It will also visit Silverstone, which European series rarely visit due to having to ship cars to Britain.

Euroformula and the Formula Renault Eurocup (which used FRegional cars for its last two seasons in 2019 and ’20 before its assets were inherited by the FREC paddock) last raced there in 2019, and the all-female W Series only headed there in 2021 and ’22 due to being an F1 support and all of its entries being operated by a British team.

There are four F1 tracks on Euroformula’s 2026 calendar, since it has dropped the Red Bull Ring for a first ever trip to Misano.

In addition to a calendar, Eurocup-3 has announced it will have at least nine teams on the grid next year. Its four Spanish squads (Campos Racing, Drivex School, Global Racing Service and Palou Motorsport) will continue, along with Dutch outfit MP Motorsport, and stepping up from the Spanish F4 championship under the same promoter will be two more Spanish operations: Tecnicar Motorsport and the TC Racing team founded by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with the assistance of ex-F1 driver Roberto Merhi.

Total newcomers to the paddock will be British teams Double R Racing and Hitech GP, and Eurocup-3 aims to complete its grid with a 10th team.

Double R raced in Euroformula from 2019 to ’21, running future F1 and IndyCar drivers, and through its sister company Fine Moments ran all of W Series’ cars. Its last race outings were the final two rounds of the 2023 British F4 season, and it has been a test-only team since then.

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Euroformula will continue with Dallara’s ‘324’ bodykit next season, and has shared pictures from the manufacturer as it produces six more of them to be ready for use later in 2025.

A new name in the GT Sport paddock, starting with next month’s round at the Red Bull Ring, is Roland Rehfeld. The long-time team manager and then sporting director of PHM Racing retained that role for its F2 and FIA F3 squads when they were purchased by AIX Investment Group last year and rebranded, but as of this week he is no longer working for the team and has moved into a team management position at Euroformula dominator Motopark.

The FIA has confirmed to Formula Scout that FREC will switch to Toyota engines next year that will be built by Autotecnica since a deal with Alpine – that included branding of the championship and its Renault engines – ends this season. Tatuus’s second-generation T-326 chassis is set to succeed the T-318 after seven seasons of use, and two following the introduction of an update kit to reduce the physical effort required to steer the car.

ACI Sport will continue to promote FREC, and the FIA will support the Italian motorsport federation by providing technical expertise and staff (such as stewards and technical delegates) while helping revise its sporting and technical regulations.

The post The changes Europe’s major single-seater series are making for 2026 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Kazuhisa Urabe and Kiyoshi Umegaki were the winners in round three of the Formula Regional Japanese Championship season at Suzuka.

Umegaki topped both qualifying sessions, setting a 1m57.47s in Q1 to lead Urabe by 0.232 seconds and Kento Omiya by 0.628s. Points leader Tokiya Suzuki was also within a second of pole, 0.825s back.

In Q2 the pace was lowered to 1m57.009s, and Umegaki had a sizeable 0.541s advantage over Suzuki. Urabe and Omiya were split by 0.024s in third and fourth.

Race one began with Urabe and Umegaki going side-by-side into the opening corner. Umegaki conceded the lead and went off exiting turn two, dropping to fourth, then dived down the inside of Omiya into the chicane to gain back one spot.

The top three stayed close together, with Umegaki looking to make a move into the chicane on lap six. The safety car then came out, and on the lap nine restart a spinner led to racing being neutralised again.

There were two laps remaining when the next restart took place, and Suzuki attacked the leader into turn one. There was drama at the hairpin as Anna Inotsume was spun around while running in fifth, and Yuyaka Toriba began the final lap by crashing out.

Umegaki did a switchback move on Suzuki to get ahead through Spoon Curve, but Suzuki got past by staying committed on the outside through turn 15 despite almost going off.

In desperation, Umegaki lunged at the chicane and rode over the top of Suzuki’s car. While he finished third on-the-road behind Omiya, a 40s penalty dropped him to seventh. Suzuki was even less lucky, being classified eighth after failing to see the chequred flag. Yu Oda was a surprise beneficiary as they were promoted to the podium.

Race two was far blander. Umegaki covered the inside line at the start then had Suzuki and Urabe in his mirrors for a few laps. In the race’s second half he pulled away from both, winning by 3.81s to end the weekend half a point behind Suzuki. Omiya was a lonely fourth.

Results round-up  oran
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing 31m22.380s
2 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +2.517s
3 Yu Oda Rn-sports +7.003s
4 Chenghua Lin Ragno Motor Sport +11.357s
5 “Yuki” Nilzz Racing +19.485s
6 Anna Initsume Hitotsuyama Racing +21.050s
7 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +44.671s
8 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S +1 lap
9 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +1 lap
Ret Zhabin Jia B-MAX Racing
Pole: Umegaki, 1m57.470s
Fastest lap: Umegaki, 1m58.551s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Umegaki 25m51.885s
2 Suzuki +3.810s
3 Urabe +9.872s
4 Omiya +15.940s
5 Lin +23.758s
6 Oda +24.755s
7 Toriba +32.113s
8 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +38.753s
9 Jia +40.118s
10 Inotsume +1m08.945s
P: Umegaki, 1m57.009s
FL: Umegaki, 1m58.869s

Championship standings
1 Suzuki 120.5   2 Umegaki 120   3 Omiya 94.5   4 Urabe 86   5 Lin 44   6 Toriba 40   7 Oda 39.5   8 Inotsume 31   9 Jia 21   10 Irie 21

The post Umegaki and Urabe share FRegional Japan wins at Suzuka appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Tokiya Suzuki and Kiyoshi Umegaki shared the Formula Regional Japanese Championship wins in round two at Fuji Speedway.

Umegaki started the weekend on top, setting a 1m37.2s in practice to lead Kento Omiya by 0.036 seconds and Suzuki by 0.091s.

In qualifying one, Umegaki he posted a 1m37.811s to pip Suzuki to pole by 0.067s, as Omiya trailed by 0.561s. Kazuhisa Urabe was 0.805s behind in fourth.

A 1m37.421s earned Umegaki another pole in Q2, edging Suzuki by 0.094s. There was a gap of 0.462s to Omiya and 0.767s to Urabe.

Umegaki made a very slow start to race one and was quickly down to fourth. Suzuki led Urabe into the opening corner, and Umegaki gained back one place on lap one.

He went around the outside of Urabe down the pit straight on lap two, but went too deep into turn one and was back behind. Umegaki attacked Urabe there again on lap three, before the safety car appeared due to Anna Inotsume and Zhongwei Wang crashing at the Dunlop chicane.

Racing resumed on lap seven and Umegaki immediately attacked. He had nosed ahead on the outside by turn one but locked up so was in third once he turned in.

The inside line was chosen on lap eight, but his lunge sent him too deep and Urabe got back past by cutting the inside of turn two. When they fought again at turn three, Urabe went off to stay ahead and now Omiya was involved.

Umegaki had to defend for the rest of the lap, but the slipstream effect as they began lap nine helped him overtake Urabe before the braking zone for turn one.

Omiya pressured Urabe on lap 10, and attempt a diving move at the Dunlop chicane. That failed, and for the remainder of the race he sat behind while Umegaki halved Suzuki’s lead from 2.9s to 1.3s.

Umegaki made a better start in race two, while Omiya was slow off the line. The poleman swept to the inside to defend, as Urabe ran alongside Omiya.

There was drama at turn three and Suzuki took the lead, with Umegaki reclaiming second through a diving move at the Dunlop chicane. Urabe went off at turn 14 and fell down the order, with Chenghua Lin now fourth.

The gap between the top two was down to 0.5s on lap 15 when something went wrong for Umegaki and he dropped to 1.8s back. He responded by setting the fastest lap, and when Suzuki encountered taffic on lap 12 the double slipstream brought Umegaki back into play.

Suzuki defended on the run to turn one on lap 14, and on the final lap went deep into turn 14 and and Umegaki drove past. But Suzuki’s superior exit speed meant he led out of turn 15.

Umegaki took a deeper line into the final corner to set him up for better speed down the pit straight, and although Suzuki defended the inside there was enough space for Umegaki to get alongside and win by 0.038s.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S 29m14.085s
2 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +1.308s
3 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +8.006s
4 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +8.530s
5 Chenghua Lin Ragno Motor Sport +14.578s
6 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +18.774s
7 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +27.543s
8 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +27.963s
9 “Akita” Abbey Racing +28.758s
10 Shoichiro Akamatsu Eagle Sports +31.923s
Pole: Umegaki, 1m37.811s
Fastest lap: Umegaki, 1m37.256s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Umegaki 24m29.133s
2 Suzuki +0.038s
3 Omiya +13.431s
4 Lin +22.424s
5 Toriba +25.866s
6 “Akita” +26.636s
7 Jia +41.115s
8 Akamatsu +41.975s
9 Irie +42.439s
10 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +43.143s
P: Umegaki, 1m37.421s
FL: Umegaki, 1m37.385s

Championship standings
1 Suzuki 98.5   2 Umegaki 89   3 Omiya 64.5   4 Urabe 46   5 Toriba 32   6 Lin 22   7 Inotsume 22   8 Jia 19   9 “Akita” 18   10 Irie 17

The post Umegaki denies Suzuki a FRegional Japan double at Fuji in photo finish appeared first on Formula Scout.