Zak O'Sullivan grabs maiden Super Formula pole at Fuji; Nojiri extends pole record for Round 7
- Tarun Suresh
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Round 6
Qualifying 1
Group A
In the wet qualifying session, Zak O’Sullivan set the early fastest lap and couldn’t go faster, but nobody else could either. Until the very end, it looked like he’d be the fastest of everyone in this group, but he was bested by Kamui Kobayashi and Luke Browning, both of them making it to Qualifying 2 for the first time this season.
But with new names topping the session, it means there were some big names eliminated. Ayumu Iwasa, the reigning champion, was only eleventh fastest; Sacha Fenestraz, coming off a breakthrough win last race weekend, was only eighth, and Igor Fraga, who was second fastest overall in the Fuji official tests, was only seventh.
The others who were eliminated were Kenta Yamashita in ninth, Nobuharu Matsushita in tenth and Juju Noda in tenth.
Group B
Group B didn’t have any shortage of upsets and surprises either. Rikuto Kobayashi topped the charts early as it was drying, and Ren Sato was a quarter of a second behind in second.
But just like in Group A, a late contender charged onto the top of the timing sheets at the very end, and it was none other than the record holder for pole positions, Tomoki Nojiri. Nirei Fukuzumi, currently third in the standings, made it to Q2 in fourth, and so did Sena Sakaguchi in fifth. Honda’s rookie sensation Yuto Nomura was the last to make it through to Q2.
Among the upsets were championship leader Kakunoshin Ohta, who missed out by 16 milliseconds and 2024 champion and five time winner at this circuit, Sho Tsuboi, who was more than a second off pace in eleventh.
Charlie Wurz was also eliminated and was eighth fastest, Syun Koida was ninth, Ukyo Sasahara was tenth fastest, and the returning Giuliano Alesi was at the bottom of the timing sheets.
Qualifying 2
With no shortage of new faces and big surprises in Q2, this session was guaranteed to be filled to the brim with excitement and shocking results.
At the flag, it was Rikuto Kobayashi on provisional pole, but was soon usurped by Toshiki Oyu by almost two tenths. Oyu’s time at the top didn’t last long either as O’Sullivan stormed his way to the top for his maiden pole position and Team Impul’s first since 2022.
Luke Browning was third ahead of Kobayashi, and Roman Staněk rounded off the top five.
Sena Sakaguchi was sixth ahead of the 2024 pole sitter at Fuji, Nirei Fukuzumi. The driver who took pole the last time a qualifying session happened at Fuji, Tadasuke Makino, was eighth ahead of Yuto Nomura, with Ren Sato rounding off the top ten.
Kamui Kobayashi could only muster eleventh, and Tomoki Nojiri couldn’t find the pace he did in Q1 and was only twelfth fastest.
Round 7
Qualifying 1
Group A
The track was dried mostly for this session, but the session was red flagged with about three minutes to go after Luke Browning spun around exiting the final corner and stopped on track and struggled to get the car going again.
He got going again, but he was excluded from the session since he caused the red flag, and a few minutes were added to the clock to compensate.
The dry conditions meant that the usual contenders were back on top, with Tadasuke Makino topping the sheets ahead of Ren Sato. Kenta Yamashita was third, and Iwasa was just a couple of tenths behind in fourth. Nobuharu Matsushita pulled out a surprise lap to get DELiGHTWORKS Racing into Q2 ahead of Toshiki Oyu in sixth.
Fenestraz was eliminated, once again a major disappointment for Team TOM’S. Others who were knocked out were, in order: Kamui Kobayashi, Staněk, Wurz, Browning and Juju Noda.
Group B
Tsuboi was keen to make up for the upset in the previous session, setting fastest lap after fastest lap, with nobody able to get within four tenths of the Saita native until the very end.
Tomoki Nojiri just barely inched out ahead by less than a couple of tenths, pushing Tsuboi to second. Behind the pair was Ohta, not too far back. Sakaguchi was fourth with Fraga, and Fukuzumi made it to Q2 alongside him.
Those who were eliminated were, in order: Nomra, Koide, Rikuto Kobayashi, Alesi, O’Sullivan and Sasahara.
Qualifying 2
For a majority of the session, it was the two Dandelion Racing cars leading the sheets, and they remained on top despite challenges from the likes of Fraga, Tsuboi and Iwasa.
But the two-time champion Tomoki Nojiri climbed to the top with a stellar lap, almost four tenths clear of Makino in second, grabbing pole position in the process. The record holder's tally has now gone up to 24 pole positions. Ohta was just two milliseconds behind his teammate in third, and Fraga was more than a tenth away from the pair and was fourth fastest.
Tsuboi was fifth, a tenth clear of Iwasa, who was only sixth fastest. Yamashita put together another stellar lap for KCMG to qualify seventh, just ahead of the pair of Inging drivers, Sakaguchi ahead of Oyu this time around.
Matsushita qualified an impressive tenth for the newest team on the grid as Fukuzumi and Sato occupied the final two spots.
Round 6 takes place later today at 16:15 JST, with Round 7 taking place at 15:35 JST tomorrow, a few hours after Round 3 at 10:05 JST.
Comments