Super Formula: Fukuzumi scores maiden pole

Dandelion Racing’s Nirei Fukuzumi scored his first career Super Formula pole at Suzuka, edging out fellow Honda driver Tomoki Nojiri by just under two tenths of a second.

Many eyes were on two drivers coming into this race weekend. The first, “Mr. Suzuka” Naoki Yamamoto—the 2020 SF champ racing with a new team this season. And Giuliano Alesi, who is replacing Kazuki Nakajima this round.

The cars were divided into Group A and Group B for Q1 to allow for optimum qualifying results at the iconic Suzuka. In Group A, Ryo Hirakawa finished in P1, Alesi P2, and Ukyo Sasahara P3 in the 10-minute session. In Group B, Nirei Fukuzumi finished in P1, Yuhi Sekiguchi P2, and Naoki Yamamoto P3.

In the 7-minute Q2 session, Naoki Yamamoto was knocked out by not finishing in the top 8, as Fukuzumi once again finished in P1, Nojiri P2, and Toshiki Oyu P3.

Fukuzumi captured his first pole in Super Formula in Q3, by blowing away the competition, as he seeks his first victory in the series. Nojiri will start the Rd. 2 30-lap race from P2, Toshiki Oyu in P3, Ryo Hirakawa in P4, Ukyo Sasahara in P5, Ritomo Miyata P6, Yuhi Sekiguchi P7, Alesi P8

Q3 results:

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	5	Nirei Fukuzumi	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	1’36.449	–
2	16	Tomoki Nojiri	Team Mugen	1’36.645	0.196
3	64	Toshiki Oyu	TCS Nakajima Racing	1’36.673	0.224
4	20	Ryo Hirakawa	Team Impul	1’36.794	0.345
5	6	Ukyo Sasahara	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	1’36.810	0.361
6	37	Ritomo Miyata	Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S	1’36.919	0.470
7	19	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Team Impul	1’37.078	0.629
8	36	Giuliano Alesi	Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S	1’37.350	0.901

Q2 Results:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	5	Nirei Fukuzumi	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	1’36.646	–
2	16	Tomoki Nojiri	Team Mugen	1’36.936	0.290
3	64	Toshiki Oyu	TCS Nakajima Racing	1’36.978	0.332
4	19	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Team Impul	1’36.987	0.341
5	36	Giuliano Alesi	Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S	1’37.099	0.453
6	20	Ryo Hirakawa	Team Impul	1’37.119	0.473
7	6	Ukyo Sasahara	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	1’37.165	0.519
8	37	Ritomo Miyata	Kuo VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S	1’37.250	0.604
9	15	Hiroki Otsu	Red Bull MUGEN Team Goh	1’37.310	0.664
10	1	Naoki Yamamoto	TCS Nakajima Racing	1’37.426	0.780
11	38	Sho Tsuboi	P.MU/CERUMO･INGING	1’37.502	0.856
12	51	Nobuharu Matsushita	B-Max Racing	1’37.594	0.948
13	18	Yuji Kunimoto	KCMG	1’37.736	1.090
14	3	Kenta Yamashita	Kondo Racing	1’37.849	1.203