KCMG has announced an unusual car-sharing arrangement involving Giuliano Alesi and Seita Nonaka for next week’s Super Formula triple-header at Fuji Speedway.
The Toyota-powered team revealed on Thursday that Alesi, the son of Formula 1 cult hero Jean, will drive the team’s #9 car for Rounds 6 and 7, while Nonaka will contest Sunday morning’s sprint race, the replacement for the cancelled Autopolis round.
KCMG is obliged to run Nonaka for the sprint race, which will be run over a reduced distance of 25 laps with no mandatory pit stop, as he qualified the car at Autopolis.
However, it is expected that the Japanese driver’s only opportunity to drive the Hitech-run machine prior to the race will be the reconnaissance laps, as KCMG prioritises giving Alesi as much track time as possible to prepare for his Super Formula comeback.
After the Fuji round, Alesi will occupy the seat that should have originally gone to Kalle Rovanpera before his withdrawal due to illness for the remainder of the year.
Alesi returned to Super Formula action for the first time in three years for the in-season test at Fuji, which marked his first appearance in the championship since he was discarded by TOM’S midway through the 2023 season.
The French driver made headlines in 2021 when he won in just his second appearance at Autopolis in wet conditions, but after that his best finish was eighth.
Seita Nonaka, KCMG
Photo by: Masahide Kamio
Since losing his TOM’S drive, Alesi has focused largely on racing in SUPER GT for the same team, although he was part of Rookie Racing’s 2024 title-winning Super Taikyu effort and more recently has contested both the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
Nonaka’s best finish in four attempts in 2026 has been 17th, and he is set to start 15th for the replacement race as the qualifying results from Autopolis will be used to set the grid.
The 2021 Japanese F4 champion’s only points finish came last year at Motegi, when he substituted for an absent Kamui Kobayashi at KCMG and finished eighth.
He subsequently failed to score in seven starts for TGM Grand Prix and lost his seat at the end of the year, only earning a reprieve when Rovanpera was forced to stand down.
Nonaka will return to being KCMG’s reserve driver for the rest of the year.
KCMG’s only points finish of the year so far has been a seventh place for Kenta Yamashita in the second leg of the season-opening Motegi double-header in April.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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