Super Formula Preview: Round 8 - Sportsland SUGO
- Tarun Suresh
- Aug 8
- 2 min read
Written by Tarun Suresh, Edited by Meghana Sree
Post-summer Super Formula has been on a roll, and next up on the calendar is Sportsland SUGO. The previous race at this circuit was cut short due to the rain, but fortunately, this time, there aren't any signs of a downpour on the radar.
Located at the rural hillside of Murata, SUGO is one of the largest motorsport venues in Japan. Even so, it covers only 3.7 kilometres, making SUGO the shortest circuit on the calendar in terms of both distance and lap time.
Sho Tsuboi currently leads the championship, three points ahead of Kakunoshin Ohta in second. Ohta’s teammate Tadasuke Makino is a close third, only 14 points behind Tsuboi.
Out of everyone on the grid, the driver with the best track record here is Tomoki Nojiri, who has finished on the podium in the past three races here and in the top six in the past five races. The two-time champion has had mixed performances this season, but his track record speaks for itself.
Another driver whose track record here is impressive is Makino, who has finished in the top five every race since 2021. He will be counting on a good race to finish ahead of Tsuboi and Ohta to keep his title campaign going.
Nojiri’s teammate, Ayumu Iwasa, is yet to step on the top step of the podium. Despite leading multiple races the past two seasons, his first Super Formula win has always eluded him. He qualified and finished second in his only race here and has been having a great season so far.
Meanwhile, Toshiki Oyu could be a dark horse this weekend. He’s finished in the top five in three of the past four races here and on the podium in half of them.
This weekend is the only remaining traditional single-header weekend on this season’s calendar, meaning qualifying takes place on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
Qualifying is set for 14:00 JST (6:00 BST), and the race will start at 14:20 JST (6:20 BST) on Sunday.
Comments