“The target is to be champion”: Nirei Fukuzumi on Super Formula title fight, NLS and more
- Tarun Suresh
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
In May, Super Formula’s list of winning teams got one entry longer thanks to Nirei Fukuzumi scoring ROOKIE Racing’s maiden win in the most recent round of the series held at Suzuka. Fukuzumi switched from KCMG, a team he raced for the two years prior, to ROOKIE Racing, a team project of Morizo himself, in 2026.
DIVEBOMB had the opportunity to interview him during the Super Formula test sessions held at Fuji Speedway.
Fukuzumi is no stranger to the ROOKIE Racing crew, having driven for them in the world’s fastest sports car racing series, Super GT, for the past two years and scoring multiple podiums and a win for the team alongside Kazuya Oshima, the man who retired and made way for Fukuzumi at the team. Fukuzumi discussed the transition to the new team in Super Formula.
“I knew ROOKIE Racing very well. I've been racing with them in Super GT for two years already. I know everyone who is in Rookie Racing. The KCMG team is also very good people there. They helped me a lot. “Also, we had a good season with KCMG. Even in ROOKIE Racing, everyone is very kind. They helped me with everything. I'm always able to focus on my driving. Both teams are very good for me”
The official tests were the Tokushima native’s first go at driving the ROOKIE Racing car around Fuji, a circuit where he has had mixed results in the past.
“We won the last race in Suzuka. We knew that we were quite competitive in Suzuka. But this is my first opportunity to drive a rookie racing car at Fuji Speedway.
“Especially at Fuji Speedway, we really need to have a good race pace. Also, this track is quite easy to overtake compared to other tracks. So, today we did a long run simulation, but tomorrow we will focus on that.”
The Fuji Speedway is a circuit with a healthy mix of high, medium and low speed corners and has the longest straight on the calendar to boot. Consequently, the importance of getting the set-up right is particularly important at this circuit.
“Today, I just focused on the setup, how different compared to the KCMG car or the Dandelion car. And we adjust so many things today. And at the end, the car felt much, much better. We were quite strong, especially in sector 2. But still, we need to improve, especially sectors 1 and 3. But I'm quite happy with how it went today.”
In Super GT’s Fuji 3 Hours earlier this year, Fukuzumi claimed pole and finished second after an impressive showing in the race. He mentioned how a strong performance in one category translates into another:
“It's completely different between Super GT and Super Formula, but my performance was very good. I got more confidence in every category.”
Fukuzumi’s predecessor at ROOKIE Racing and teammate in Super GT, Oshima, had a particularly hard time with the team in Super Formula. When Oshima retired, he stated he would take an advisory role within the team to ensure that his replacement would not face the same adversities he did. Fukuzumi had nothing but praise for the 39-year-old:
“He knows what the car is like. He has a lot of experience in Super Formula and Super GT. He gave me a lot of advice on how to make the car better. He knows everyone in the team. Basically, he's helping us with the main issues now. He's very important for the team.”
Oshima’s advice certainly seemed to help as Fukuzumi scored the team’s maiden podium, pole position and win this year and is currently only 17 points behind championship leader Kakunoshin Ohta. The following round in the calendar brings a triple header at Fuji Speedway.
“I'm third in the standings, and we have three races in a row. We want to win, for sure. This is the first race with ROOKIE Racing at Fuji Speedway. I expect to get to the podium at least. Then I want to get more points”
As the season has progressed, Fukuzumi has emerged as a dark horse for the championship. He is currently the leading Toyota driver in the standings and was fourth fastest in the test sessions overall.
With Toyota holding a historical advantage at Fuji, and five races left at the circuit, challenging for the championship is not out of the question.
“I'll try. But it's not easy, for sure. Especially, Ohta Kakunoshin, he seems very strong this year. Also, Ayumu [Iwasa] is very strong. Now, Tsuboi-san. He's basically very strong at Fuji Speedway. It's not easy to get a championship this year, but the target is to be champion. We'll try. Maximum try.”
While he’s been fighting for wins and podiums in two of Japan’s premier motorsport series, Fukuzumi has also been trying his hand at the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), where he periodically drives for his former Super Formula team, KCMG. His most recent outing was a fifth-place finish in class at the NLS 6.
“Amazing. Very amazing experience. It's a very different category compared to what I used to do. I don't have so much experience in GT3 cars. But I got a lot of experience from this. Also, the track is very fun to drive.
There were so many fans. So many people around the track. Which is very good. They gave me more motivation for the race.”
With standout performances in Super Formula and Super GT, valuable experience at the Nürburgring, and most recently an official test session with the Haas Formula One team, this has been a breakout year for Fukuzumi. His next race will be the Super Formula round at Fuji to be held from 17 - 19 July.
Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Comments