Iwasa clinches pole at Autopolis; leads every session

Credit: Super Formula

While most of the field was tight in qualifying for Round 3 of the 2026 Super Formula season held at Autopolis, Ayumu Iwasa was one step ahead of his peers and secured pole position and the million yen cash prize for this qualifying session. He will be accompanied on the front row by championship leader Kakunoshin Ohta, who was almost three tenths behind the reigning champion in the battle for pole.

Qualifying 1

In Group A, Tsuboi topped the sheets with a 1:27.384 lap time, but only just, as last year’s polesitter, Tomoki Nojiri, was second, only four milliseconds off the fastest time. Sena Sakaguchi continues to ride the high that started at Motegi and was third fastest, a little more than a tenth off Tsuboi.

Ren Sato, Tadasuke Makino and Nirei Fukuzumi were the other three who made it to Qualifying 2.

Group B’s qualifying session was red-flagged early as Syun Koide in the ThreeBond Racing car spun out exiting turn one.

When the session resumed, we had times going well into the 1:26s. Iwasa was fastest with a 1:26.524 lap time. Championship leader Ohta was second, a tenth and a half behind. Almost three hundredths behind Ohta in third was Sacha Fenestraz.

The others from Group B who made it into Q2 were Igor Fraga, Toshiki Oyu and Roman Staněk.

Qualifying 2

In Q2, Iwasa remained the one to beat and was fastest yet again. His teammate, Nojiri, was exactly a tenth behind in second. Sakaguchi was the leading Toyota driver in this session, with the other Toyota driver, Fenestraz, two milliseconds behind him in fourth. Kakunoshin Ohta was the last to make it to the returning Qualifying 3 format.

Those who didn’t make it to Q3 were, in order: last year’s race winner Tsuboi, Sato, 2024 winner Makino, Fraga, Fukuzumi, Oyu and Staněk.

Qualifying 3

Credit: Super Formula

In Q3, Iwasa continued his streak of leading every session this weekend with pole position, with the only lap time to break into the 1:25s. Ohta was on course for pole through sectors one and two, but dipping one wheel into the dirt at the exit of the final turn cost him valuable time, and he could only qualify second, quarter of a second behind the polesitter.

Autopolis lap record holder Tomoki Nojiri was third fastest ahead of the two Toyotas of Fenestraz and Sakaguchi, who were fourth and fifth respectively.

Race preview

Iwasa is well-positioned for tomorrow’s race, but with drivers like Ohta, Nojiri and Fenestraz right behind him, it’s not going to be an easy path to victory. Drivers like Sakaguchi, Tsuboi and Makino shouldn’t be discounted either. Tsuboi did win the race last year from fifth.

The race starts at 14:30 JST and will be 41 laps long, with the mandatory pit stop window starting on lap 11. There is also a possibility of rain affecting tomorrow’s race.