40. Akshay Bohra

New entry • FRegional rookie won in Europe and Middle East

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

Having pulled off something of an upset by beating Freddie Slater to win the E4 title in 2024, Bohra stepped up to Formula Regional with R-ace GP and made a strong impression for a rookie, winning races in both the Middle East and European championships.

His Middle East win in Abu Dhabi was one of only five races (out of 15) in which he scored points, so he ended up only 14th in the standings there, but his European campaign was far more consistent. There he failed to score just five times out of 20, and came sixth in the standings as the next-best first-year driver after champion Slater.

He joined the top five in winning a race, doing so at Imola from pole position after pipping Slater to pole by 0.027 seconds, and setting the fastest lap as he kept the eventual champion at bay. There were five other podium finishes, including second to an irrepressible Slater at a damp Hockenheim.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Indian-American seems short of options to continue building career momentum in Europe, with a switch to Super Formula Lights on the horizon after testing recently with TOM’S.

39. Noah Stromsted

Down 8 • FIA F3 rookie showed strong pace

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Trident started the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship as the team to beat, and Stromsted utilised that to finish two of the first three feature races in second place and set the fastest lap in both races of round three at Imola.

As other teams caught up with the tricks Trident nailed straight away, Stromsted scored less frequently but still got the job done usually in feature races (with only four drivers outscoring him in those) and at Spa-Francorchamps he claimed his maiden victory in the sprint race.

The rookie, who graduated from FREC, came sixth in the standings, was in contention to make the top four and he was an impressive fifth best on single-lap and race pace through the season.

Stromsted qualified in the top three at three different circuits, with his worst weekend being Monaco where he crashed in practice, was down the order in qualifying, retired from the sprint race and was 18th the next day.

38. Ean Eyckmans

New entry • Strong progress as single-seater rookie yielded second in Spanish F4

Photo: All Road Management

Photo: ACI Sport

Single-seater rookie Eyckmans had a stellar 2025, which included racing in FRegional.

Chosen last year as the winner of the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy scholarship, his main programme was in Spanish Formula 4 with MP Motorsport, which began with the Winter Championship. Two podiums and a pole put him sixth in the standings, and he was the second-best rookie.

The start of his main championship campaign didn’t go to plan, as a second place was Eyckmans’ sole points-scoring result in the first five races. But following that he was on the podium seven times in the next eight races, ending with his first victory in round five at Jerez. A win and two third places in the last two rounds made him the championship runner-up behind compatriot Thomas Strauven and ahead of Jan Przyrowski and Rene Lammers, and the top rookie by over 130 points.

During the summer, Eyckmans stepped up to FREC with Race Performance Motorsport, and he topped the rookie classification in three races as well as scoring twice to come 19th in the standings and second in the rookie classification’s points table.

37. Jules Roussel

New entry • Fought for French F4 title and won FIA F4 World Cup in Macau

Photo: Macau GP Organising Committee

Photo: Macau GP Organising Committee

Roussell was 11th in French F4 with one podium last year, and improved in his sophomore season to two victories, six runner-up finishes and only missing out on second in the standings on victory countback.

Spa was Roussel’s strongest weekend, as he claimed his maiden pole and took home both of his wins.

There was only one track where he didn’t make the podium, and while his failure to meet the chequered flag four times was twice the number of his title rivals, he only had one more points-free race than Arthur Dorison who edged him to the championship runner-up spot.

Roussel got to go up against French F4 champion Alexandre Munoz again in the FIA F4 World Cup, and thoroughly outperformed him. Fourth in practice was followed by sixth in qualifying, second in the qualification race and then victory in the all-important main race. He took the lead on the opening lap, and outwitted the drivers who then tried to challenge him.

36. Taito Kato

Up 11 • Made big gains across his sole year in FRegional

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

Honda protege and 2024 French F4 champion Kato joined ART Grand Prix to race in FREC and FRME this year and the World Cup in Macau.

His FRME campaign may have included a podium in the second round, but he was far behind both of his more experienced team-mates Evan Giltaire and Kenato Le and had an average finishing position lower than 10th place.

It was totally different in FREC, where his average race result improved to 8.7 and he came seventh in the standings, far ahead of Le and a lot closer to Giltaire.

At Spa and Paul Ricard he made the podium, and in the Monza season finale he finished both races in fourth. In qualifying the field is split in two, and Kato was second in his group twice and third fastest twice too.

In Macau he impressed too as one of the leading rookies. He topped free practice, was fourth in qualifying, then finished fifth in both races.

35. Joshua Duerksen

Down 17 • Podium spree showed AIX’s F2 potential

Photo: FIA

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Duerksen maximised AIX Racing’s pace in Formula 2 at rounds where the team was competitive, making the podium at six circuits and bookending the season with victories. His year-ending win in the Abu Dhabi feature race from eighth on the grid was a repeat of what he did as a rookie with the team in 2024.

Six of Duerksen’s podiums came in the last eight races, and they rocketed him from 15th to ninth in the standings.

He was 13th fastest in the field on single-lap pace, but fifth on race pace and for podiums and laps led (including those behind the safety car) he was only bettered by two drivers. All of AIX’s points were scored by Duerksen.

But there were also lows for Duerksen. In Monaco he crashed out of both races, which was one of six rounds he failed to score in, and in Jeddah and at Spa he was towards the back of the grid.

34. Emanuele Olivieri

New entry • Won F4 Middle East title and starred in Macau

Photo: F4 ME

Photo: F4 ME

Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours-winning Rinaldo Capello is the godfather of Olivieri, and his guidance has so far turned him into an impressive talent at single-seaters’ entry level.

Although the Italian only scored 15 points across 33 races in three championships last year, he was with a midfield team in AKM Motorsport where being a podium threat was unlikely regardless of his abilities. Switching to R-ace GP for 2025 therefore added a bit of pressure to show what his true potential was, and he instantly delivered in F4 Middle East where he beat his team-mate Alex Powell (a third-year F4 racer) to the title. His season featured six wins, five poles and only two races off the podium.

Olivieri’s title-winning margin raised expectations for Italian F4, where Prema is the dominant team. Although Olivieri was R-ace’s lead driver again, and he started the season with two podiums, he only took home two more trophies during the season and came seventh in the standings with two poles to his name.

The FIA F4 World Cup in Macau marked another time to shine, with no team advantages at play, and Olivieri was third in practice and qualifying, won the qualification race with a stunning overtake and finished runner-up in the main race.

33. Alexandre Munoz

New entry • French F4 sophomore made a big step to win 2025 title

Photo: KSP

Photo: KSP Reportages

Munoz wasn’t one of the big names in his domestic karting scene or in international competition, and when he moved into single-seaters last year on home soil in French F4 he started on the back foot by missing the season opener and retiring from his debut race.

Following that he was rarely near the points, only scoring twice and having an average finishing position of 14.7 until the final two races. His season changed then, as he won the reversed-grid race at Paul Ricard and followed it up with fifth in the season finale. That was his best result by some margin in a race using a grid set from qualifying.

The turnover of drivers each year in the centrally-run championship, and that final round of 2024, meant Munoz was perceived to be a likely title contender for this season.

He delivered on that promise, winning all four of the main races across the first two rounds and having three of those victories come from pole. In the reversed-grid races of those rounds he came fourth twice, and while his form was never quite a dominant after that he was still on the podium at least once every round, took a fourth pole at Spa and in the final round became champion before the final race which he won.

Munoz then contested the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau, but crashed in qualifying and retired from both races.

32. Yuto Nomura

New entry • Dominated SF Lights as a rookie

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Honda junior Nomura spent three years in F4, culminating in the 2024 Japanese title, but it only took one season for him to not only become a frontrunner in the third-tier Super Formula Lights championship but utterly dominate it and earn a Super Formula seat for 2026.

After finishing second in all three races of the season opener (losing a win to a five-second penalty), then failing to score at Autopolis, he won 12 of the remaining 13 races over the next four rounds and his title-winning margin was equivalent to almost five wins’ worth of points.

Round one at Suzuka was the only time Nomura didn’t claim a pole position, as he took both at Okayama, Sportsland Sugo and Twin Ring Motegi, and was on pole for one race at Autopolis and at Fuji Speedway.

The last time there was a rookie champion in Japanese F3/SF Lights was Sacha Fenestraz in 2019, but he had already done a season in FIA European F3. Nick Cassidy had 12 races of F3 experience before winning the 2015 title, so Ryo Hirakawa in 2012 was the last true rookie champion before Nomura.

31. Myles Rowe

Re-entry • Made history with improved second season in Indy Nxt

Photo: Travis Hinkle / Penske Entertainment

Photo: James Black

Rowe rejoins the list after being placed 17th in 2023, when he won the USF Pro 2000 title as a rookie.

He has spent two years in Indy Nxt since then, with Force Indy a permanent part of his entry which was co-run by HMD Motorsports in 2024 and then Abel Motorsports for 2025.

Having come 11th with a best finish of fourth as a rookie, Rowe improved to fourth in the standings as a sophomore and in the oval race at Iowa Speedway in summer he claimed a landmark first victory for black drivers in Indy Nxt.

Rowe ended the season with a second win at Nashville Superspeedway from ninth on the grid, was on the podium in both races on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, finished second at Gateway and was third at Portland.

He was the top scorer on ovals, and had the third-best race pace in the field. For 2026 he will stay with Abel.

Written by Peter Allen & Ida Wood

The post Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2025: 40-31 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: B-MAX Racing

Super Formula Lights champion Yuto Nomura will graduate to Super Formula with B-MAX Racing next year.

The 20-year-old Japanese racer will be going into his fifth year of car racing, and has been a Honda junior since making his single-seater debut in French Formula 4 back in 2022.

That year he was also a Red Bull junior, and he won two races en route to seventh in the standings. He then spent two seasons in Japanese F4, coming fourth in his rookie campaign and winning the title as a sophomore. Over the two years, the second of which was with B-MAX, he won eight races, took 10 other podiums and six poles.

Nomura remained with B-MAX for this year’s step up to Japan’s third-tier SF Lights championship, and he had a stellar season. After finishing second in all three races of the season opener, then failing to score at Autopolis, he won 12 of the remaining 13 races over the next four rounds and his title-winning margin was equivalent to almost five wins’ worth of points.

Earlier this month he drove for B-MAX in SF’s post-season test, and was 24th in the overall classification. For 2026 he takes over the seat of Syun Koide, his predecessor as SF Lights champion with B-MAX, after he came 16th in his rookie campaign.

“As mentioned in the announcement, at this time, there is no information that we can share with the fans,” Koide said in a statement after Nomura’s graduation was confirmed. “While there is some anxiety, we will continue to challenge ourselves in order to definitely return again [to SF].”

Nomura will also join Real Racing in Super GT’s top GT500 class next year. He debuted in the sportscar series’ secondary GT300 class this season, and came 11th in the standings with one win and one pole.

The post SF Lights champion Yuto Nomura lands 2026 Super Formula seat appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Super Formula post-season testing at Suzuka next week will feature a large group of junior single-seater stars.

The December 10-12 group test doubles up as the Japanese championship’s official rookie test, and is a key opportunity to impress for drivers aiming to race there.

Luke Browning is the highest profile junior single-seater star entered into the test, and will do days two and three with the Toyota-powered Kondo Racing team. The 23-year-old Englishman is a race-winner in Formula 2 this year and is aiming to end his rookie season this weekend as championship runner-up.

As a Williams junior, he has been called up to drive in four Formula 1 practice sessions, the latest being at Yas Marina Circuit this weekend in between F2 action. He will also do F1’s young driver test there on December 9 before flying to Japan.

Ex-F2 star Jack Doohan, who did six F1 races with Alpine this year before being demoted, is reportedly eyeing an SF switch.

Also coming from overseas to test is Charlie Wurz, who will join for day one’s afternoon session then also drive in the next two days with Team Goh, which was last seen on the grid under that name in 2022. The 20-year-old has spent the last two years in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, and came 13th this season with two podiums.

Planning to be on the SF grid in 2026 after making his single-seater racing debut next month in Formula Regional Oceania is Kalle Rovanpera, and Toyota’s two-time World Rally champion from Finland will do the full test with KCMG.

Gaining test mileage at the top level after racing in Japan’s third-tier Super Formula Lights championship in 2025 are six drivers.

Honda-powered B-MAX Racing has called up three of its SF Lights drivers: champion Yuto Nomura (days one and two), podium-finisher Zachary David (day three) and backmarker Yasuhiro Shimizu (day three).

Toyota junior Rikuto Kobayashi, who came third in the standings with one win and also made his SF debut in the double-header Twin Ring Motegi round, will do the full test with the TGM Grand Prix squad that replaced Goh in SF in 2023.

INGING will put Kazuhisa Urabe, who was 10th in SF Lights and third in the FRegional Japanese Championship this year, in one of its Toyota-powered cars for the final day, and former Honda junior Souta Arao will hope to impress the manufacturer again by testing on days two and three with ThreeBond Racing. Arao was only able to contest one SF Lights round this year.

Kiyoshi Umegaki and Tokiya Suzuka did double programmes as Toyota juniors in 2025. They came first and second in FRJC, while in Japanese F4 the title was won by Suzuki and Umegaki came seventh in the standings.

The pair will join SF’s test for the final day, with Umegaki at Rookie Racing and Suzuki driving for KCMG.

The post Browning leads junior single-seater stars entering Super Formula test appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Super Formula Lights champion Yuto Nomura won all three races in the final round at Twin Ring Motegi.

It was close in the fight for race one pole in qualifying, with B-MAX Racing driver Nomura edging Toyota junior Yuki Sano by 0.012 seconds and his TOM’S team-mate Rikuto Kobayashi by 0.157s.

Nomura grew his advantage with a faster pace in qualifying two, setting a 1m42.597s to clinch race two pole — his eighth of 2025 — by 0.307s over Sano.

Kobayashi was just 0.011s slower than Sano, and Delightworks Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi was 0.589s off pole in fourth.

Race one concluded Saturday’s action, and Sano’s victory hopes ended with a bad start. Kobayashi drove straight past him, and Delightworks’ Yusuke Mitsui briefly nosed ahead too before the opening corner.

Sano ensured he got through the corner in third, then mostly had a lonely race as the top four spread out.

Nomura was 1.8s clear, with Sano a further two seconds back, when the safety car came out on lap 10 due to B-MAX’s Nobuhiro Imada spinning off.

Racing resumed with two laps to go, and everyone held their positions. Nomura won by 0.796s, and Kobayashi had a 0.899s gap to Sano.

There was drama at the start of race two, with six drivers failing to complete the opening lap. That led to the safety car leading the field through to lap five, when they were released with Nomura at the front.

Sano had once again lost out to Kobayashi on lap one, and he was mostly able to stick with Nomura. The winner grew his lead to 0.758s on the final lap, and Mitsui finished fourth after having Yamakoshi in his mirrors throughout.

Nomura started on pole again for the season-ending race three, ahead of Kobayashi, Sano, Mitsui and Yamakoshi.

Kobayashi had wheelspin off the line, and Mitsui tried going around his outside at turns one and two. But later in the lap he got baulked and lost out to Sano, with Yamakoshi almost getting past too.

His team-mate then got the job done around the outside through turn 11, and their squabble allowed the top three to break away.

Nomura had a 1.341s gap after one lap, which he maintained en route to his 12th victory of the campaign.

Sano was a lonely third again, as Yamakoshi spent most of the race holding Mitsui off. He edged away in the last few laps, with 0.793s between the two at the finish.

Results round-up
Race 1 (14 laps)
1 Yuto Nomura B-MAX Racing 26m24.636s
2 Rikuto Kobayashi TOM’S +0.796s
3 Yuki Sano TOM’S +1.695s
4 Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing +2.944s
5 Hiyu Yamakoshi Delightworks Racing +3.555s
6 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +4.283s
7 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +5.817s
8 Esteban Masson TOM’S +6.427s
9 Zachary David B-MAX Racing +6.905s
10 Reimei Ito LM Corsa +7.898s
Pole: Nomura, 1m43.135s
Fastest lap: Nomura, 1m43.537s

Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Nomura 29m51.197s
2 Kobayashi +0.758s
3 Sano +2.858s
4 Mitsui +5.300s
5 Yamakoshi +6.406s
6 Masson +10.029s
7 Ito +12.281s
8 “Ken Alex” Buzz Racing +24.803s
9 Nobuhiro Imada B-MAX Racing +29.744s
Ret Keito Matsui B-MAX Racing
P: Nomura, 1m42.597s
FL: Nomura, 1m44.110s

Race 3 (19 laps)
1 Nomura 33m19.957s
2 Kobayashi +0.995s
3 Sano +3.688s
4 Yamakoshi +11.865s
5 Mitsui +12.658s
6 Furutani +24.308s
7 Urabe +26.907s
8 Masson +27.690s
9 Ito +28.803s
10 Yasuhiro Shimizu B-MAX Racing +56.699s
FL: Kobayashi, 1m44.424s

Championship standings
1 Nomura 153   2 Sano 104   3 Kobayashi 85   4 Furutani 36   5 Kaylen Frederick 35   6 Mitsui 32   7 Masson 31   8 David 25   9 Yamakoshi 7   10 Urabe 5

The post Nomura brings win tally up to 12 in Super Formula Lights’ Motegi finale appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Honda junior Yuto Nomura wrapped up the Super Formula Lights title a round early at Fuji Speedway with two wins.

A typhoon barraged the circuit with rain on Friday, so free practice was postponed. FP1 was squeezed in at the end of the day, while FP2 started before 8am on Saturday.

B-MAX Racing’s Yuto Nomura set the pace, a 1m33.529s in the second session earning him top spot by 0.144 seconds over TOM’S driver Yuki Sano. His team-mate Rikuto Kobayashi was a further 0.031s behind in third.

Qualifying began just 40 minutes after practice ended on a dried out track, and Nomura remained on top. A 1m33.028s earned him race one pole by 0.166s over Kobayashi, with Sano 0.208s off pole and Delightworks Racing’s Yusuke Mitsui fourth.

Kobayashi was quickest in Q2, setting a 1m33.376s that Nomura got within 0.106s of late on. Yuga Furutani (TOM’S) and Mitsui were also less than 0.17s off pole, and Sano qualified fifth with a deficit of 0.284s to Kobayashi.

Nomura was late off the line in race one and passed by Kobayashi, but he had jumped the start and got a 10s penalty. Nobuharu Imada, who was last on the grid, got a five-second penalty for moving slowly at the start.

The top two were then side-by-side until Kobayashi cemented himself ahead at turn four. Nomura lost second at turn five to Yuki Sano, and tried getting back past at turn 10. At the corner apex, Sano tapped Kobayashi’s rear and he spun, while Nomura had nowhere to go and cut turn 11.

Sano began lap two leading Esteban Masson (TOM’S) by 0.949s, but with a five-second penalty for spinning Kobayashi, with Nomura in sixth and Kobayashi way behind the pack.

Nomura took fifth from team-mate Zachary David into turn one, and dived past Mitsui there on lap three. Furutani was cleared on lap five, into turn four, then it took until lap 13 to reach Masson. His failed defence of the inside down the pit straight allowed Nomura to go around the outside of turn one, and he provisionally had victory in his hands as Sano was 4.8s ahead.

Sano then held a five-second lead until the safety car appeared late in lap 17 due to Yasuhiro Shimizu having stopped at turn 12 two laps prior.

Racing resumed with two laps remaining, and Sano fended off Nomura’s attacks before pulling away. He finished fifth once his penalty was applied, while Kobayashi’s penalty put him 11th.

He caught and passed the backmarkers on lap five, made two overtakes to rise to 10th on lap six then faced a 5.5s gap ahead. Kobayashi passed two more drivers on lap 14, and went around the outside of B-MAX’s Kaylen Frederick at turn one on lap 16. But with no further progress after the restart and a bunched up pack, he was sent back down the order.

Nomura had another slow start in race two, dropping to fourth while Furutani tried going around the outside of Kobayashi at turn one but went wide then put a wheel off and dropped to sixth.

One position was reclaimed by Nomura before turn six, and Furutani went down Masson’s inside at turn one on lap two.

Kobayashi went on to win by 4.59s over Mitsui, and Kazuhisa Urabe was a penalised 10th after spinning Frederick at the opening corner.

Nomura had pole for race three, and this time held onto the lead while fellow front row starter Masson fell to eighth after a five-wide battle into turn one. Furutani was second, and kept Nomura in sight all race but was never close enough to attack.

Mitsui held third ahead of Sano, who was passed by Kobayashi on lap 10. Four laps later he tried diving inside Mitsui at turn one but went too deep. He tried passing again at turn three, and soon Sano was on their tail and got past. They went three-wide into turn 10 and Sano emerged ahead of Mitsui and Kobayashi.

They went three-wide again starting the final lap, and Mitsui remained side-by-side with Sano through the first two corners. Kobayashi joined again at turn four, where Mitsui flew off and retired, and then took third from Sano to end his title hopes.

Results round-up
Race 1 (21 laps)
1 Yuto Nomura B-MAX Racing 36m08.127s
2 Esteban Masson TOM’S +1.244s
3 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +1.808s
4 Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing +2.660s
5 Yuki Sano TOM’S +3.026s
6 Zachary David B-MAX Racing +3.522s
7 Reimei Ito LM Corsa +5.954s
8 Kaylen Frederick B-MAX Racing +6.372s
9 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +10.300s
10 “Dragon” B-MAX Racing +12.486s
Pole: Nomura, 1m33.028s
Fastest lap: Sano, 1m34.781s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Rikuto Kobayashi TOM’S 23m45.602s
2 Mitsui +4.590s
3 Nomura +5.316s
4 Sano +8.515s
5 Masson +9.291s
6 Furutani +11.670s
7 David +21.798s
8 Ito +24.259s
9 Frederick +28.322s
10 Urabe +33.968s
P: Kobayashi, 1m33.376s
FL: Kobayashi, 1m34.461s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Nomura 23m50.458s
2 Furutani +0.977s
3 Kobayashi +9.807s
4 Sano +10.396s
5 David +13.302s
6 Frederick +15.756s
7 Masson +15.958s
8 Ito +17.077s
9 Urabe +23.341s
10 Yasuhiro Shimizu B-MAX Racing +46.195s
FL: Furutani, 1m34.569s

Championship standings
1 Nomura 121   2 Sano 89   3 Kobayashi 64   4 Frederick 35   5 Furutani 34   6 Masson 30   7 David 25   8 Mitsui 24   9 Urabe 5   10 Ito 1

The post Honda junior Yuto Nomura wraps up Super Formula Lights title at Fuji appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Yuto Nomura won all four races in Super Formula Lights’ fourth round of 2025 at Sportsland Sugo to build a gap at the top of the standings.

The Honda junior was the driver to beat throughout last weekend, starting with practice in which he led Kaylen Frederick by 0.248 seconds and the same gap covered second to sixth.

Next up was qualifying, and in Q1 took race one pole by 0.301s over Zachary David. He was just 0.024s faster than Yuki Sano, who had a 0.019s gap to Frederick.

Nomura had a 0.3s advantage again in Q2 for race two pole, with Sano denying David second by 0.002s. Esteban Masson was a further 0.059s behind, and quicker than Frederick by 0.001s.

Race one was bland, with Nomura making a great start and winning unopposed. Sano and Rikuto Kobayashi, from fifth, got up to second and third in the first corners but only Sano was near the leader’s pace. Masson overtook Frederick for fifth on lap two and the top 10 was settled.

Nomura had to cover the inside line at the start of race two, and exiting the opening corner David and Masson collided. Masson then went off at turn four, and David did one lap before retiring.

Thr safety car appeared on lap two, then released the field on lap seven. Nomura led home Sano again, and Yuga Furutani was promoted onto the podium by the lap one chaos while Kobayashi jumped to fourth.

Frederick lost two spots in the first two laps, and the only overtakes after that were outside the points positions.

Nomura also started from pole in race three, in which he built a 2.58s lead in the first six laps before Sano closed back in. It was down to 0.8s on lap 16 before Nomura responded, going a second clear before last-lap traffic meant Sano finished 0.5s behind.

Kobayashi had a slow start from third yet kept the position, and Yusuke Mitsui spun into the path of Kazuhisa Urabe exiting turn two yet both could continue and Mitsui came 0.135s shy of taking eighth from Reimei Ito.

Race four was a rescheduling of the Autopolis’s cancelled race three, and the front row was the same.

Sano jumped the start slightly and got on the inside of Nomura down the pit straight, and tried keeping his nose there into turn one. Nomura cut off the line though to stay ahead.

A five-second penalty ended Sano’s victory hopes, but by finishing 0.94s behind Nomura on-the-road he did enough to maintain second. They were 0.342s apart mid-race.

Furutani started and finished third, ahead of Mitsui.

Results round-up
Race 1 (26 laps)
1 Yuto Nomura B-MAX Racing 32m21.980s
2 Yuki Sano TOM’S +1.814s
3 Rikuto Kobayashi TOM’S +13.181s
4 Zachary David B-MAX Racing +14.202s
5 Esteban Masson TOM’S +14.962s
6 Kaylen Frederick B-MAX Racing +15.979s
7 Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing +16.423s
8 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +21.837s
9 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +29.044s
10 Reimei Ito LM Corsa +31.092s
Pole: Nomura, 1m12.568s
Fastest lap: Nomura, 1m14.088s

Race 2 (19 laps)
1 Nomura 28m11.612s
2 Sano +1.173s
3 Furutani +7.168s
4 Kobayashi +8.195s
5 Mitsui +8.513s
6 Urabe +12.200s
7 Frederick +13.344s
8 Ito +18.637s
9 Nobuhiro Imada B-MAX Racing +42.918s
10 “Dragon” B-MAX Racing +52.369s
P: Nomura, 1m12.554s
FL: Sano, 1m14.016s

Race 3 (19 laps)
1 Nomura 23m33.080s
2 Sano +0.504s
3 Kobayashi +5.675s
4 Masson +10.553s
5 David +13.021s
6 Frederick +13.603s
7 Furutani +14.369s
8 Ito +26.138s
9 Mitsui +26.273s
10 Imada +53.055s
FL: Nomura, 1m13.789s

Race 4 (19 laps)
1 Nomura 23m34.444s
2 Sano +5.940s
3 Furutani +6.882s
4 Mitsui +11.546s
5 Kobayashi +12.377s
6 Urabe +17.568s
7 Masson +18.100s
8 David +18.945s
9 Ito +20.745s
10 Frederick +21.624s
FL: Sano, 1m13.903s

Championship standings
1 Nomura 95   2 Sano 81   3 Kobayashi 48   4 Frederick 34   5 David 22   6 Masson 21   7 Furutani 21   8 Mitsui 14   9 Urabe 5   10 Ito 1

The post Nomura breaks clear in SF Lights title fight with four Sugo wins appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

B-MAX Racing’s Yuto Nomura marched to his first three Super Formula Lights victories at Okayama last weekend to level the title race.

Nomura was fastest overall in practice, leading team-mate Zachary David by 0.23 seconds, and carried that form into qualifying as his advantage over him grew to 0.308s in Q1.

Delightworks Racing’s Yusuke Mitsui and TOM’s driver Rikuto Kobayashi were both within 0.09s of David in third and fourth, and Le Mans 24 Hours podium finisher Esteban Masson was 0.413s off pole in fifth.

Points leader Yuki Sano was seventh, and he was only one place higher in Q2 as Nomura set a 1m21.961s to claim another pole by 0.453s. Mitsui narrowly beat Masson, Kobayashi and David to second.

Nomura had to fend off an attack from David on the inside at the start of race one, which then allowed Mitsui to get through into second on the outside at turn one. Davd got back past on the straight down to turn five, then Kobayashi overtook Mitsui later in the lap too.

It was a quiet race for Nomura thereon, while David came under pressure on lap seven, then again from lap 15 onwards. Kobayashi got alongside him but was almost forced off on lap 19, but got past on the next lap. By the end of the 25-lap contest there was a train of cars behind David.

Mitsui lost fourth to Kaylen Frederick on lap two, and to Sano 16 laps later. Sano was eighth after lap one, and it took a few laps for him to return to seventh. He overtook Masson on lap 15, then slipstreamed past Mitsui on lap 18.

Nomura led lights-to-flag again in race two. Masson took second from Mitsui into the opening corner, with Kobayashi following him through at turn five. Sano then hounded Mitsui, and locked up as he made a dive at turn five on lap seven. They were close again at turn four on lap nine, but Mitsui then held on through the race’s second half.

The best battle thereon was for 12th, between “Dragon” and Yasuhiro Shimizu. There were many close moments, and eventually Shimizu crashed out with just over two laps to go.

Masson shrank Nomura’s lead from 1.37s to 0.7s late on too before Nomura lowered his pace to win by 2.1s. Frederick overtook Yuga Furutani for seventh on lap 15 of 18.

Nomura started on pole for racre three and had an easy time again. Frederick overtook David for third at the opening corner, but could not match Kobayashi in second until the safety car brought him onto his tail. The cause was Reimei Ito flying off at turn five on lap 13.

Three laps remained when racing resumed, and Nomura was unfazed by Kobayashi’s attacks. Masson overtook Mitsui for fifth, but there was no other action in the points places.

Sano’s seventh place meant fellow Nomura is now level with him on points at the top of the standings.

Results round-up
Race 1 (25 laps)
1 Yuto Nomura B-MAX Racing 35m35.616s
2 Rikuto Kobayashi TOM’S +6.668s
3 Zachary David B-MAX Racing +10.035s
4 Kaylen Frederick B-MAX Racing +10.518s
5 Yuki Sano TOM’S +11.154s
6 Yusuke Mitsui Delightworks Racing +12.028s
7 Esteban Masson TOM’S +12.871s
8 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +13.396s
9 Reimei Ito LM Corsa +14.691s
10 Yugo Iwasawa Delightworks Racing +19.842s
Pole: Nomura, 1m22.154s
Fastest lap: Nomura, 1m24.159s

Race 2 (18 laps)
1 Nomura 25m33.356s
2 Masson +2.465s
3 Kobayashi +9.761s
4 Mitsui +10.743s
5 Sano +11.751s
6 David +21.324s
7 Frederick +21.623s
8 Furutani +23.365s
9 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +24.219s
10 Ito +24.963s
P: Nomura, 1m21.961s
FL: Nomura, 1m24.238s

Race 3 (18 laps)
1 Nomura 27m03.290s
2 Kobayashi +1.243s
3 Frederick +2.123s
4 David +3.634s
5 Masson +4.010s
6 Mitsui +5.487s
7 Sano +6.169s
8 Furutani +6.608s
9 Urabe +7.623s
10 Iwasawa +9.516s
FL: Nomura, 1m24.515s

Championship standings
1 Sano 53   2 Nomura 53   3 Kobayashi 33   4 Frederick 32   5 David 17   6 Masson 16   7 Furutani 11   8 Mitsui 9   9 Urabe 3   10 Ito 1

The post Nomura goes unbeaten at Okayama to level SF Lights title race appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: KSP

French Formula 4 champion and Honda junior Taito Kato will move up to Formula Regional with ART Grand Prix in 2025.

Kato was confirmed as French F4 champion just last month after a messy end to his title fight with Yani Stevenheydens in the deciding round at Paul Ricard in October.

Stevenheydens appeared to have claimed the title in the final race, only to later be handed a 10-second penalty that dropped him to 11th in the results and made Kato champion by six points.

The championship outcome was then subject to an appeal by Stevenheydens and the Belgian federation – not against his race three penalty, but countering the overturning of a three-second penalty awarded that had originally been awarded to Kato for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on his way to winning race one. This appeal was ultimately dismissed by the French federation, leaving Kato as the champion.

The 17-year-old Japanese driver will contest the FRegional Middle East Championship with ART at the start of 2025 before embarking on the European series.

“We are delighted to welcome Taito to the team,” said ART boss Sebastien Philippe. “His performance and attitude have impressed us, and we believe he has the potential to deliver great results in both FREC and FRMEC. We are excited to work with him in this crucial phase of his career.”

Honda will send Rintaro Sato, son of former Formula 1 driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato, to race in French F4 next year after he was named as winner of the Honda Racing School scholarship. Sato Jr finished eighth in Japanese F4 this season in his first car racing campaign.

Kotaro Shimbara was also chosen as a HRS scholarship winner, as runner-up in the competition, and will drive for Honda Formula Dream Project with B-Max Racing in Japanese F4 in 2025. Shimbara finished third in Japanese F4 this year behind HFDP drivers Yuto Nomura and Ryota Hirachi while driving for Kageyama Racing, having previously competed in the series in 2022. Sho Momose, another HRS graduate, will be his team-mate.

Honda has confirmed that Nomura will step up to Super Formula Lights for HFDP with B-Max Racing.

Elsewhere in FREC, Trident has named Matteo De Palo as its first 2025 signing. The Italian driver came 17th in the points in his rookie season with Sainteloc Racing – with a best finish of fourth – after finishing fifth in Spanish F4 in 2023.

Sainteloc’s first announced driver is Tim Gerhards, who placed 20th in Spanish F4 this year with Monlau Motorsport, while Van Amersfoort Racing has confirmed it will retain Pedro Clerot, who ended his rookie campaign eighth in the points.

The post French F4 champion Taito Kato to race in FRegional with ART GP appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Japanese F4

Honda junior Yuto Nomura clinched the Japanese Formula 4 title with his fifth successive win in the final round at Suzuka.

In his second season in the series after previously racing in French F4, Nomura took the points lead off teammate Ryota Horachi when he started his winning streak at Autopolis in October, before he then opened up a 41-point advantage with a hat-trick at Motegi.

It was Horachi who claimed a double pole position in qualifying, where he was 0.272 seconds faster than Nomura, but it was Nomura who made the better getaway at the start of race one to take the lead while Horachi went side-by-side with Yuki Sano through the opening corners and ultimately fell to third.

Nomura established a lead of around 0.7s in the early laps before the safety car was required after “Dragon” spun into the gravel at 130R on lap four of 11. The race restarted on lap 8, but an incident at the hairpin involving two more independents class drivers, Isao Nakashima and “Kentaro”, brought the safety car straight back out.

One lap remained at the restart, with Nomura doing enough to beat Sano by 0.606s and secure the title with a race to spare.

Horachi completed the podium, with Kotaro Shimbara fourth ahead of Tosei Moriyama while Rintaro Sato took sixth after a last-lap side-by-side battle with teammate Kento Omiya, who locked up and went off at the Casio Triangle, falling to 11th.

In race two, Horachi held the lead at the start as Nomura challenged him around the outside of the first corner, while Shimbara got the better of Moriyama in a battle for third and soon began pressuring Nomura.

The safety car was deployed on lap two after Omiya spun into the gravel in the S Curves out of eighth place.

Kageyama Racing driver Shimbara, who returned to Japanese F4 this year after a year out, immediately attacked Nomura at the restart and was past for second place before even turning in for the first corner.

Behind, there was a crash that put Ryo Shirasaki, Hironobu Shimizu and Kazuhisa Urabe into the gravel on the outside of turn one, bringing the safety car out once more.

Just three laps remained at the restart and Shimbara instantly pressured Horachi, who responded to win by 2.198s. However, Horachi was later disqualified when his car was found to be underweight, handing Shimbara his maiden win.

Shimbara – recently selected together with Sato as a winner of the Honda Racing School scholarship for 2025 – had already done enough to take third place in the final standings away from Toyota junior Sano, who was ultimately classified fifth in the last race.

Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Yuto Nomura HFDP 30m20.390s
2 Yuki Sano TGR-DC RS +0.606s
3 Ryota Horachi HFDP +0.990s
4 Kotaro Shimbara Kageyama Racing +1.675s
5 Tosei Moriyama Helm Motorsports +2.308s
6 Rintaro Sato Ponos Racing +3.557s
7 Hironobu Shimizu Drago Corse +3.764s
8 Ryo Shirasaki Bionic Jack Racing +4.341s
9 Kiyoshi Umegaki TGR-DC RS +5.013s
10 Rio Shimono Dr. Dry Racing Team +5.778s
Pole: Horachi, 2m06.737s
Fastest lap: Nomura, 2m07.705s

Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Shimbara 29m56.659s
2 Nomura +1.387s
3 Moriyama +1.926s
4 Umegaki +3.100s
5 Sano +4.042s
6 R Sato +4.558s
7 Tokiya Suzuki TGR-DC RS +4.879s
8 Kenta Kumagai OTG Motor Sports +5.308s
9 Itsuki Sato Drago Corse +6.412s
10 Shota Sakai TGM Grand Prix +6.590s
P: Horachi, 2m06.775s
FL: Moriyama, 2m08.198s

Championship standings
1 Nomura 236   2 Horachi 167   3 Shimbara 153   4 Sano 147   5 Moriyama 99   6 Shimizu 97   7 Umegaki 78   8 R Sato 70   9 Kento Omiya 68   10 Suzuki 47

The post Yuto Nomura crowned Japanese F4 champion with fifth straight win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Japanese F4

Honda junior Yuto Nomura put the Japanese Formula 4 title in reach with three wins at Twin Ring Motegi.

There were five practice sessions to kick off the weekend’s action, and Nomura set a 1m58.242s to lead Kageyama Racing’s Kotaro Shimbara by 0.018 seconds and fellow Honda junior Ryota Horachi by 0.064s. Helm Motorsports’ Tosei Moriyama was 0.182s back in fourth.

The cancelled race from the previous round at Autopolis was added to the schedule as race one, and in qualifying for that Horachi set a 1m57.713s to claim pole by just 0.066s over Shimbara. Nomura himself was only 0.14s off pole in third, and Bionic Jack Racing’s Ryo Shirasaki in fourth led a group of drivers who were over half a second off the pace.

Qualifying for race two followed, and Horachi was fastest again. This time he set a 1m57.786s, pipping Nomura by 0.094s and Shimbara by 0.171s. Shirasaki again made his way into fourth, 0.484s slower than Horachi this time.

Shimbara snatched the lead at the start of a very wet race one, and Nomura got into second then quickly looked for a way past. At several corners he tried getting alongside the leader but a lack of grip led to him getting crossed up a few times. When he finally did seem to make a move stick, Shimbara had enough traction to then stay alonside for several more corners before eventually Nomura dived his way past late in the lap.

Horachi got past too soon after, then Toyota junior Yuki Sano dived down Shimbara’s inside at the first corner of lap two. Ponos Racing’s Kento Omiya was next to attack him, but racing was then neutralised by the safety car due to several spinners. The restart occurred on lap eight as rain continued to fall, and Ponos’s Rintaro Sato went way off into the gravel but was able to rejoin. Shimbara lost further ground, and ended up battling with his team-mate before the safety car appeared again and the rest of the race ran under yellow flag conditions.

Race two was also wet, and Horachi was beaten off the line by Nomura and Shimbara as Shirasaki also started slowly and dropped back. Pressure was put on the leader through lap one, but he began to pull away slightly after that as Omiya kept close to Horachi.

The closest battle was for sixth, between Toyota juniors Kazuhisa Urabe and Kiyoshi Umegaki, but that was interrupted on lap five by usual frontrunner Tosei Moriyama getting stuck in the run-off at the last corner after two cars clashing ahead led to him going off.

Racing resumed on lap eight and the battles immediately heated up. Urabe and Umegaki passed Shirasaki before another safety car intervention. The next restart was on lap 11, and the Toyota juniors were fighting once more. They briefly made contact, but held their positions, as Nomura won again.

Drivers had a dry track for race three, and Nomura had pole. Shimbara and Horachi went wheel-to-wheel for second through the first sector of lap one and Horachi just held on, as Sano sat right behind him too. At turn 12 Shirasaki pulled off an amazing move, then the safety car appeared on lap two due to a crash.

Racing resumed on lap five, and a lap later Urabe suffered a terrifying crash in which his car speared off track then barrel-rolled. He was later confirmed to be without any serious injuries.

The safety car was needed again, and there was only one lap of racing following that. Sano immediately passed Horachi, and Nomura held on up front for another victory.

Results round-up
Race 1 (10 laps)
1 Yuto Nomura HFDP 30m33.739s
2 Ryota Horachi HFDP +0.244s
3 Yuki Sano TGR-DC RS +1.449s
4 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +2.297s
5 Ryo Shirasaki Bionic Jack Racing +2.738s
6 Kiyoshi Umegaki TGR-DC RS +3.672s
7 Kotaro Shimbara Kageyama Racing +6.010s
8 Itsuki Sato Drago Corse +6.460s
9 Hironobu Shimizu Drago Corse +7.398s
Pole: Horachi, 1m57.713s
Fastest lap: Umegaki, 2m17.931s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Nomura 31m25.617s
2 Shimbara +1.534s
3 Horachi +2.605s
4 Omiya +3.375s
5 Kazuhisa Urabe TGR-DC RS +4.399s
6 Umegaki +4.844s
7 Sano +5.579s
8 Rintaro Sato Ponos Racing +8.276s
9 Rio Shimono Dr. Dry Racing Team +12.170s
10 I Sato +15.192s
P: Horachi, 1m57.786s
FL: Nomura, 2m13.373s

Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Nomura 30m37.055s
2 Shimbara +0.672s
3 Sano +2.266s
4 Horachi +2.647s
5 I Sato +5.286s
6 R Sato +5.389s
7 Tokiya Suzuki TGR-DC RS +5.610s
8 Umegaki +6.227s
9 Shimizu +7.297s
10 Shirasaki +7.317s
FL: Nomura, 1m58.978s

Championship standings
1 Nomura 193   2 Horachi 152   3 Sano 119   4 Shimbara 116   5 Shimizu 91   6 Tosei Moriyama 74   7 Omiya 68   8 Umegaki 64   9 Sato 54   10 Suzuki 41

The post Honda’s Nomura homes in on Japanese F4 title with three Motegi wins appeared first on Formula Scout.