The Super Formula Series produced a thriller with Sho Tsuboi winning the season finale at the Fuji Speedway. Kiwi Nick Cassidy finished fourth while it was Naoki Yamaoto who prevailed in a four-way fight for the title.
Title contender and pole sitter Tomoki Nojiri made a slow pitstop and later retired with a puncture. This put Yamamoto in the box seat to win the title, only needing to finish fifth and ahead of his main rival Ryo Hirakawa, which he did.
Cassidy had started at the rear of the grid due to a penalty in qualifying and made his way up to 12th on the opening lap. He held the lead for a number of laps while those before them took a compulsory pitstop. Cassidy eventually pitted on lap 31/40, returning to the track in sixth place.
“It was very difficult for tyre temperature today, even with the tyre warmers on the first lap it was difficult, but I made some nice moves,” commented Cassidy.
“In warm-up I was P1, so I knew my car was really good on long runs. When I saw people pitting, I had clean air and my tyres didn’t drop so I could keep going. So that was nice.”
This ends Cassidy’s tenure with the category as he heads to Formula E. His time in Super Formula has seen the Kiwi win three times from 27 starts, winning the driver’s title in 2019 and being part of two teams’ titles (Kondo Racing 2018 and TOM’S 2020).
Overall Drivers’ Points (Top 5)
1/ Naoki Yamamoto, 62 points
2/ Ryo Hirakawa, 60
3/ Nick Cassidy, 57
4/ Tomoki Noijiri, 51
5/ Sho Tsuboi, 50
Race result (Top 10)
Pos Driver Team Time
1/ Sho Tsuboi, INGING 56m13.803s
2/ Toshiki Oyu, Nakajima Racing +0.687s
3/ Nobuharu Matsushita, B-MAX Racing w/ Motopark +1.522s
4/ Nick Cassidy, TOM’S +2.268s
5/ Naoki Yamamoto, Dandelion Racing +6.361s
6/ Ryo Hirakawa, Team Impul +7.550s
7/ Ukyo Sasahara, Team Mugen +8.541s
8/ Sacha Fenestraz, Kondo Racing +24.737s
9/ Kazuki Nakajima, TOM’S +25.360s
10/ Kenta Yamashita, Kondo Racing +25.785s
Cassidy fourth as Yamamoto wins Super Formula Series title - genuinearticle.co.nz
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