Sho Tsuboi halts Dandelion run

TOM’S driver Sho Tsuboi scored his first Super Formula victory of the season at Autopolis, ending Dandelion Racing’s winning streak.

Up from fifth on the grid, Tsuboi made a lightning start to run second on the opening lap of the 41-lap race behind poleman Tomoki Nojiri, with Ayumu Iwasa making a similarly strong getaway from seventh to jump up to third.

Racing Bulls Formula 1 reserve driver Iwasa was the first of the leaders to come in for the mandatory pitstop, doing so on lap 15, before Nojiri and Tsuboi pitted in unison on lap 19.

Iwasa moved into the net lead at this stage, while Tsuboi was able to get ahead of Nojiri as both drivers struggled to warm up their fresh tyres on the out lap.

A safety car was called when Zak O’Sullivan spun into the gravel, which benefited several drivers who were yet to stop at that point, but the order of the top three remained unchanged.

But just as Iwasa looked to be in a strong position to finally score an elusive first Super Formula victory, he dramatically slowed on lap 27 due to a loose front-right wheel.

That promoted Tsuboi into a lead he wouldn’t lose, with the reigning champion opening his 2025 victory account by a margin of 1.1 seconds over Nojiri, who earned his first podium of the year.

Completing the top three was Kondo Racing’s Kenta Yamashita, who was the first of those to pit during the safety car period, emerging fourth and inheriting third when Iwasa stopped.

Ren Sato was fourth for Nakajima Racing, having followed the same strategy as Yamashita, while Inging driver Sena Sakaguchi completed the top five.

Tadasuke Makino salvaged sixth place on a day to forget for the Dandelion team, which had come to Autopolis having won every race so far this season.

Qualifying was delayed until Sunday morning owing to fog that prevented any Super Formula running from taking place at all on Saturday, and Makino was only able to qualify 13th as he wasn’t able to complete his attack lap due to a red flag.

Makino was in the pits as early as the fourth lap, and was up to P5 when the safety car came out, but dropped behind Sato and Sakaguchi on his older rubber after the pack was bunched up.

Kamui Kobayashi was seventh on his return for KCMG ahead of Igor Fraga (Nakajima), Nirei Fukuzumi in the second KCMG car and Toshiki Oyu (Inging).

Pre-race championship leader Kakunoshin Ohta had an even tougher day than team-mate Makino, qualifying eighth and dropping to 18th with a poor start before recovering to 13th.

It leaves Ohta trailing Makino by four points, with Tsuboi 14 points down in third.