Super Formula Motegi: Ohta scores back-to-back wins

Kakunoshin Ohta claimed a clean sweep of Super Formula victories at Motegi, as Luke Browning stormed from the penultimate row of the grid to claim fourth.

In much better weather conditions than those seen on Saturday, Dandelion Racing driver Ohta converted pole position into his eighth career win despite losing the lead at the start to the fast-starting Inging machine of Toshiki Oyu.

The safety car was called on the third lap of 37 as Rikuto Kobayashi became stuck in the gravel at the final corner, and Oyu was able to maintain the advantage over Ohta when the race resumed on lap seven even as the latter used almost all of his OTS allocation.

Oyu pitted at the first available opportunity on lap 10, but Ohta took advantage of clear air at the head of the field, pulling away by four seconds from the second Inging car of Sena Sakaguchi, who had jumped from fifth on the grid to third on the opening lap.

With a 32-second margin over Oyu, Ohta successfully overcut his way ahead, and such were Oyu’s struggles that it soon became apparent that Sakaguchi would be in position to jump ahead of his team-mate for second place.

That is exactly what transpired when Sakaguchi pitted on lap 25, coming out comfortably ahead of Oyu, who in turn was forced to fight a rear-guard action against an early-stopping Zak O’Sullivan as well as reigning champion Ayumu Iwasa.

Sakaguchi was able to close the gap to Ohta in the closing stages with the help of his fresher rubber, but the Dandelion driver held on by 0.958 seconds to complete a perfect weekend and move into an early 20-point championship lead.

Nonetheless, second marked Sakaguchi’s first podium finish since his rookie season in 2024 and Inging’s first since the same year.

Such was Oyu’s lack of pace – up to three seconds slower than Sakaguchi on fresh tyres – and the lack of degradation for those on older tyres that it opened the door for Nirei Fukuzumi to overcut his way to third place by pitting on lap 29.

That marked Rookie Racing’s first-ever podium since it joined Super Formula in 2020, as Fukuzumi surpassed the best finish of fourth achieved by Kazuya Oshima.

Browning, who had started down in 21st place in his Kondo Racing car after a disappointing qualifying, was likewise able to maintain strong pace on old tyres, leaving his pit stop until the penultimate lap to take advantage of Oyu holding up the pack.

The Williams F1 reserve driver was four seconds clear of Oyu at the finish, as O’Sullivan had to settle for sixth for Team Impul.

A side-by-side moment between O’Sullivan and Iwasa’s Mugen car on the final lap at Turn 11 put Iwasa wide and allowed Kenta Yamashita (KCMG) to sneak through for seventh.

Completing the scorers were Syun Koide, backing up his fifth-place finish from the opener, and Nobuharu Matsushita in the brand-new Delightworks Racing team.

Tadasuke Makino suffered a miserable qualifying in the sister Dandelion car, scoring his worst-ever grid position in Super Formula to line up 18th, and only recovering to 13th.

Sho Tsuboi was 14th for TOM’S having been forced to take avoiding action when Igor Fraga tipped Tomoki Nojiri into a spin on the opening lap.

Fraga escaped without a penalty on his way to 16th for Nakajima Racing, while Nojiri was 18th after having to pit on the opening lap for a fresh front wing.

Sacha Fenestraz (TOM’S) was the race’s only other retirement, slowing with a loose right-rear wheel after his stop but successfully getting back to the pits.

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– The Autosport.com Team