Makino heads Dandelion 1-2 in opener

Tadasuke Makino scored his second Super Formula victory of the season in Saturday’s opening race at Motegi, as Dandelion Racing continued its winning streak.

Makino led a first 1-2 finish for Dandelion since 2012 ahead of team-mate Kakunoshin Ohta after leading more or less throughout, taking the championship lead in the process.

Having headed a front-row lockout for Dandelion ahead of Ohta, Makino led the opening lap ahead of the Nakajima Racing car of Igor Fraga, who leapt in front of Ohta and briefly challenged Makino around the outside before settling into second.

Ohta was first of the lead trio to pit when the window opened on lap 10 of 33, while Fraga could only make it as far as lap 17 before coming in for fresh tyres.

Makino responded to Fraga by pitting on the next tour and, while Ohta took the lead by virtue of the undercut, he was quickly caught by his team-mate Makino once the latter’s tyres were fully up to temperature.

What appeared to be an inevitable move for the lead came at Turn 1 on lap 22, with Makino then easing away to a fourth career win by a margin of 2.6 seconds.

Ohta managed to hang on against Fraga for second, with the Brazilian driver recording his first Super Formula podium in his third start.

Racing Bulls Formula 1 reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa appeared to be in a position to fight Fraga for the final podium spot, leapfrogging his way from sixth on the grid to fourth by pitting later.

That was until his Mugen car suffered a rare gear selection failure, forcing a visibly agitated Iwasa – who led the championship heading into the weekend – into retirement.

Iwasa’s demise promoted reigning champion Sho Tsuboi to fourth, the TOM’S driver mounting a strong recovery from a poor qualifying that left him 12th on the grid.

Nirei Fukuzumi completed the top five for KCMG ahead of Sena Sakaguchi (Inging) and Kenta Yamashita (Kondo Racing), who had started fourth but lost ground with a slow pitstop.

Sacha Fenestraz scored the first points of his Super Formula comeback in eighth place in the second TOM’S car after passing the struggling Mugen machine of Tomoki Nojiri.

Two-time champion Nojiri hung on for ninth place ahead of Rookie Racing’s Kazuya Oshima.

Kamui Kobayashi’s KCMG stand-in, Toyota junior Seita Nonaka, was 11th ahead of Zak O’Sullivan in the second of the Kondo cars, while another Toyota-backed youngster, Rikuto Kobayashi, was 16th on his debut in place of Oliver Rasmussen at Team Impul.

Toshiki Oyu and Ren Sato were both eliminated on the opening lap as Oyu rear-ended Sato into Turn 1, triggering the one and only safety car period of the race.

Makino heads into Sunday’s second race with a five-point championship lead over Ohta, with Tsuboi third, 13 points adrift of the summit.

Race 1 result: