Ayumu Iwasa clinches the 2025 Super Formula Drivers’ Championship after a close 4-way fight
- Tarun Suresh
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Written by Tarun Suresh
In yesterday’s qualifying for the season finale, Team Mugen locked out the front row of the grid, with Ayumu Iwasa in pole and Tomoki Nojiri in second. Ren Sato qualified third, followed by the two Team Dandelion cars of Kakunoshin Ohta and Tadasuke Makino.
Iwasa maintained his lead at the start, unlike the rest of his pole position starts at Suzuka. Nojiri lost three places and fell down to fifth. Makino made up a place into fourth. Tsuboi went wide at the exit of turn two and fell down to ninth.
At the end of lap one, Nojiri, Zak O’Sullivan, and Kamui Kobayashi came in to pit, hoping to undercut those at the front and use the gained track position to their advantage.
Tsuboi made a shocking early pitstop, at just the end of lap two, a departure from their usual strategy of running a long front stint and making up places with fresher tyres. He managed to overcut Nojiri. A close fight with the two-time champion cost him a lot of time and used up almost half of his OTS (Overtake System).
Ohta struggled a lot in fourth behind his teammate and came in at the end of lap six. A quick stop put him out ahead of Tsuboi in fourteenth.
Iwasa and Fraga pit in response to Ohta and Tsuboi on the next lap. Iwasa came out ahead of his title rivals, and Fraga split Ohta and Tsuboi.
Seita Nonaka and Toshiki Oyu came together at the Casio Triangle on lap 11, bringing out the safety car. The front-runners who were yet to pit promptly took advantage of the safety car and came into the pits.
The order during the safety car restart was Iwasa in the lead, followed by Ohta, Sato, Makino, Fraga, Fukuzumi and Tsuboi. Sato, Makino and Fukuzumi were on fresher tyres.
The safety car came in at the end of lap 14. Fraga jumped up to fourth on the restart.
Iwasa and Ohta battled hard, but Sato joined the battle and got ahead of Ohta. Iwasa maintained the lead, effectively controlling the race.
Sena Sakaguchi got ahead of Sho Tsuboi soon after, demoting the reigning champion to eighth.
At the chequered flag, Iwasa crossed the finish line first to crown himself the 2025 Super Formula Drivers’ Champion. He ends his phenomenal season on a high, winning the title despite three DNFs.
Ren Sato finished second, closely behind the newly crowned champion. Ohta was the last of the podium finishers, bringing home third in the standings as well.
Fraga and Makino finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Fukuzumi was the leading Toyota driver in sixth with Sakaguchi closely behind. The 2024 champion came home for an eighth-place finish, four and a half points shy of his second title. Syun Koide ended his rookie season with a ninth-place finish, and Nojiri grabbed the final points position.
Iwasa, as mentioned earlier, is the newest Super Formula Drivers' Champion with 124 points. Tsuboi is the runner-up in the championship with 119.5 points. Ohta came close but could only finish third in the standings with 118 points. Makino was the last of the title contenders with 113 points. Nojiri had to settle fifth in the standings with 94.5 points.
Rookie of the Year, Fraga jumped up to a comfortable sixth in the standings with 77.5 points, 21.5 points clear of his teammate Ren Sato in seventh. Sacha Fenestraz finished eighth in the standings with 50 points, a considerable improvement from his predecessors in the 37 Team TOM'S car.
Team Dandelion might have lost the drivers’ title, but maintained their status as the Teams’ Champions, with 215 points. Team Mugen finished second in the standings with 188.5 points, and Team TOM’S fell down to third with 157.5 points.
This was also Kazuya Oshima's final race in Super Formula. He bows out after racing in the series for 14 seasons, and with a win and six podiums to his name. He spent the past five years building ROOKIE Racing into a respectable single car operation in the series. He only finished eighteenth this race, but got good point scoring finishes in the other two races this weekend.
With new faces entering the sport in Kalle Rovanperä and Delightworks Racing , major driver shuffles rumoured to take place in the off-season, and a lot of scores left to settle, the 2026 Super Formula season will be one to watch. And with that, the season comes to an end.
