Super Formula has announced that it will hold a third race during its season finale at Suzuka as a replacement for the cancelled second race at Fuji Speedway earlier this month.
With the Sunday race at Fuji being called off due to fog, the Japanese series has opted to expand what had been planned as a double-header on 22-23 November into a triple-header, with an extra race slotted into the schedule on Sunday morning.
This will be held as a 19-lap sprint race without pitstops, starting at 9:50am local time, with the grid set by the completed Sunday qualifying session at Fuji.
It means Tadasuke Makino will start from pole position, in a significant boost to his hopes of closing the 23.5-point deficit he faces to championship leader Sho Tsuboi.
Igor Fraga qualified second for Nakajima Racing, ahead of Makino’s Dandelion Racing team-mate Kakunoshin Ohta, who is equal-second in the points with Ayumu Iwasa.
Team Mugen driver Iwasa will start fourth, while Tsuboi will start seventh in the best of the TOM’S cars.
The addition of the rescheduled race on Sunday has also had a knock-on impact on the schedule for Saturday, with two qualifying sessions to set the grid for the two full-distance races of the weekend now scheduled for the morning.
Qualifying for Round 11, the Saturday race, will be held first at 8am local time, followed by qualifying for Round 12, now the second race on Sunday, at 10:05am.
Friday’s schedule is not impacted, with a pair of one-hour practice sessions set to be held as normal.
Suzuka Super Formula schedule (all local time)
Friday 21 November
Free Practice 1 – 1105-1205
Free Practice 2 – 1410-1510
Saturday 22 November
Qualifying for Round 11 – 0800
Qualifying for Round 12 – 1005
Race 1 (Round 11) – 1430 (27 laps or 75 minutes)
Sunday 23 November
Race 2 (Round 10 – ‘replacement’ race) – 0950 (19 laps or 50 minutes)
Race 3 (Round 12) – 1430 (31 laps or 75 minutes)
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– The Autosport.com Team
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